SCP Gacha System In A Cultivation World
by WouldYouKidnapA
Summary: The fact that she has been chosen by a mysterious powerful figure to become the host of the SCP Gacha System and that she is in a world where only the strong rule! Without power, you are nothing and with power you have everything! How will this young girl tackle this world in which she knows nothing about! Mon, Wed, Fri for releases.
1. A Young Girl's Origin

The sun was shining high above the skies, lighting nearly every inch of the forest below in a warm refreshing glow. The forest was abuzz with activity. Groups of small birds flying over the trees, small mammals scurrying on the grassy ground, and bugs buzzing their merry way. But amidst all this beauty and serenity, there was a strange anomaly present in the delightful woodlands. A humanoid figure could be seen peacefully resting upon a tree. But if anyone was passing through, they would have noticed that that figure wasn't there a few moments ago. It was as if they suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The figure could be seen awakening slowly. They opened their eyes and looked around in their surroundings. They raised themselves from the tree they were resting on and looked down at their current clothing.

"Why am I dressed like a cave man?" A slightly high-pitched voice asked.

The figure had jet-black hair that flowed down to their neck, brown eyes with glasses, a light figure that showed that they weren't much of an eater but not so much that they would be considered underweight and unhealthy, two petite sized mounds atop of her chest, and a face that didn't bring much attention to it, or rather at all. They looked young and most likely haven't reached the age of an adult but aren't that far off from it. This person could be described in other words as incredibly plain and boring.

"Where am I…? Why can't I remember anything about me?!" She asked getting increasingly more and more agitated.

Just as the young girl was about to wander off into the forest and have a panic attack, she was stopped by a sudden sound in her head.

***DING***

"What the…!?"

**[System has been bonded with the host's soul!]**

**[An unknown entity has latched on with the system!]**

**[Identifying….]**

**[Identifying….]**

**[Identifying…]**

**"STOP IDENTIFYING ME AND LET ME SPEAK TO THE MORTAL ALREADY!" **A third voice shouted impatiently, surprising the young girl who was convinced she has gone crazy and subsequently lost all hope.

"I guess waking up in the forest without any memories isn't bad enough. I now have other voices in my head as well." She lamented.

**"Pitiful mortal! Listen up because I will not be explaining this again! My master has noticed something about you that intrigues him and has given you a second chance at life! Be grateful! My master isn't one to share his graces with just anyone! Even I still don't understand what he sees in you."**

"If I try and ignore the voices, hopefully it'll go away…" She said as she sadly walked aimlessly throughout the forest.

**"My master has recently acquired an interest in a new hobby! And you will be the guinea pig that will test it for him! He calls it the SCP Gacha System!"**

**[System is online.]**

**[Host has a gift waiting for them! Say inventory in your mind and try and open it!]**

"Now they're telling me what to do… What have I done to deserve this..?" She muttered before softly saying. "Inventory.."

An image suddenly appeared in the young girl's mind. A large number of boxes lined up side-to-side with no seeable limit present. Inside the first box was a purple wrapped gift. It had a purple ribbon on top of the box.

"What in the world is all this…?" She asked in disbelief.

**"BEFORE YOU OPEN THAT HUMAN! LISTEN UP! YOU MUST-" **The voice was cut off as the young girl interrupted him.

"Stop yelling in my head! I got the gist of it already! It just… took some time for me to calm down." The girl ordered as she rubbed her temples. "So you're here to help me right? Answer a few questions for me okay?"

**"YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A WAY!? YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN INSIGNIFICANT FLEA TO ME! I COULD ERASE COUNTRIES WITH A WAVE OF MY HAND! AND YOU DARE TREAT ME AS NOTHING MORE THAN-" **

"SHUT UP! I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU ARE! You're nothing more than a servant to some higher power that is here to help me understand what the hell is going on with the second voice in my head. And since that higher power or fourth voice that I haven't heard speak yet wants me to accomplish something for him, I'm pretty sure you can't do a thing to me." She guessed.

**"YOU….. YOU…. YOU…..!" **The third voice was flabbergasted at the lack of face this ant was giving him. It wasn't even putting his glorious and majestic self in its eyes!

"Now… Who am i?" She asked.

**"A strange insignificant mortal that has somehow managed to capture the attention of my heavenly and divine master. Jing huh..? What a stupid name." **The third voice said pissed.

"Where am i?"

**"Some ugly forest it looks like." **

"Aren't you some amazing being? How could you not know where this is?" She asked slightly irritated.

**"Hmph. Try as you might human but you're only getting the bare essentials from me now." **

'Maybe I acted too rashly before... but I might as well ask as much as I can even if I don't get a straight answer.' Jing thought.

"Why can't I remember anything?"

**"Your tiny bug brain is probably too stupid to remember anything." **He insulted.

A vein grew on Jing's forehead from anger.

"What is going on with the second voice then…?" She spat through her teeth.

**"It is the machine that you will be testing for my master. Now farewell you rude monkey. I hope you perish before making it out of this disgusting place."** The third voice cursed.

**[The unknown entity has left! Now updating system to make sure nothing else can latch onto system!]**

"That was useless. I guess I'm on my own on figuring this thing out." She said while mentally picking the gift box in her inventory.

**[Open Starter Gift? Y/N]**

'Yes.' She thought.

**[Host has received a Legendary ticket!]**

**[Host has received Mysterious Egg!]**

**[Host has received x5 Recovery Pills!]**

"Well then.. Might as well just press whatever and brute force my way with this thing." She decided before mentally choosing on the legendary ticket.

**[Host is about to use a Legendary ticket! Are you sure?!]**

"Yes…" She said a bit annoyed.

**[Ticket has been inserted into the Gacha!]**

Inside of Jing's head an image of a gigantic wheel appeared. She was nothing more than a bug in comparison to the size of the wheel. She looked up at the wheel and saw many different words present with a small divider present to separate the choices.

'Heavenly Buddha's Body Cultivation, 9 Deadly Lightning Strokes, Undying Demonly Locking Blade, Destroying Sky Decimating Heavens technique, Phoenix egg, Blade of an Ancient Titan, God Pill, SCP-3812, SCP-343…. What even is all this?' She asked herself as the wheel began slowly spinning.

The wheel spun clockwise and although it started slowly it quickly picked up in speed and soon everything on the wheel turned into a blur. She continued watching the wheel for minutes until it eventually came to crawling halt and was stuck between two choices. The bloodline of an Ancient God and SCP-914. She watched as the wheel marker looked as if it was going to stay on the bloodline option but the little marker managed to flick past the divider and land on SCP-914.

'What happens now?"

**[Host has received SCP-914!]**

Jing suddenly felt a large amount of information being pushed inside her brain. She gripped at her skull as she dropped to her knees and felt the changes happening to her body. She gritted her teeth to deal with the pain and felt like they would soon shatter if she gritted any harder. But just as the pain came, it went away just as fast. She slowly rose from the ground and took in the new knowledge she just obtained.

'SCP-914 is a machine capable of refinement. It has an intake and an output for taking in objects and along with that, 5 different settings. Rough, Coarse, 1:1, Fine, and Very Fine.' Jing said as she slowly understood just what happened.

'Rough usually destroys the item via laser or extreme heat and rarely is the item usable after being put on this setting. Coarse setting takes the item and cleanly and efficiently dismantles or dissects items, separating them into their base components. 1:1 setting replaces the item with something similar. Fine setting improves the items, rarely with anomalous properties. And the final setting is Very Fine, which improves the item to a great extent, often with anomalous properties.'

Jing still couldn't quite believe all this and grabbed some grass in her left hand. She tried to use the abilities of 914 and the grass phased through her hand and went into her body. Jing suddenly had an instinctual knowledge on how to use her new power. She could choose whether to place the grass on rough, coarse, 1:1, fine, or very fine. Jing mentally decided on 1:1 and now it seemed as if she could manually choose something that is similar to grass in nature or let her subconscious do the choosing. For now she let her subconscious do it, and a few seconds later a small number of bamboo phased out of her right hand and into her palm.

Jing's eyes slightly widened and now she had all the proof she needed that she wasn't crazy and that this was in fact something real happening to her. She gripped the bamboo tightly as a strange smile appeared on her face.

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Escape this crappy forest and find civilization!**

**Rewards: 3 normal tickets, 3,000 yuan, and the title "No Longer A Jungle Girl."**

**Failure: Death via obliteration]**

*GROWLLLLLLL*

Jing's stomach rang out in a fierce roar. The light covering the forest turned red and orange as the sun was falling. Jing looked up and into the horizon as she stood alone in the forest.

"I was planning on leaving in the first place.. but I'm not wandering through a forest filled with wild animals at night. And I'm starving. If I don't find some place safe to sleep, I'll have to take my chances in one of these trees…" Jing stated as she started wandering through the forest, looking for food and places to sleep.

She saw scurrying squirrels, rabbits, and more as she strolled through the forest. Jing refused to try and catch one of the wild animals. There were a couple of reasons but the first one would be she didn't want to kill any animals, the second one was she didn't know how to properly prepare and cook a wild animal, and the last reason was she didn't know how to make a fire. So, she continued to walk through the seemingly endless forest and soon found her salvation in the form of a tiny bush.

*GRRRRRRRR*

Her stomach shouted at her again to consume food and she crouched down to the tiny bush full of red berries. The berries smelt fruity and delicious. They were around the size of grapes and shined brightly with their red coloring.

"I should check if this is poisonous first… but I wouldn't have the faintest idea on how to do that…" Jing said to herself as she plucked one of the berries with her hand.

The berry phased into her body and Jing upgraded it using the very fine setting. The berry phased out of her opposite hand completely transformed in every way. The red berry was turned golden. It grew to the size of an apple and gave off an aroma so appetizing that Jing could barely stop herself from drooling. She placed the berry close to her soft full lips and took a small bite. Her teeth effortlessly bit into the piece of fruit and Jing's tongue felt as if it tasted a piece of heaven. It was the most delicious and satisfying fruit that Jing has ever tasted, despite this being the only food she has can remember eating.

Jing felt her hunger and thirst instantly go away after just one bite! But her craving for heavenly fruit didn't go away one bit. She ravenously chomped and ate away at the golden fruit till it was nothing more than just a stem. Jing was about to comment on her satisfaction but instead a small burp squeaked out from her mouth and did it for her.

"Excuse me." She said to no one in particular as she started stuffing more of the red berries into her hand for later.

Her current jungle woman outfit didn't really have places for her to stuff the berries with the exception of her chest. She had an assortment of leaves strung together on some sort of item that covered her chest completely like some sort of leaf bra along with a leaf skirt. Besides that, she was basically empty handed.

The sky was getting much darker now and Jing still hasn't managed to find somewhere safe to sleep. As she continued to walk through the increasingly scary forest, she managed to spot a clear beautiful pond that was reflecting the moonlight and showering the pond in a mystical and sparkling look. Jing took notice of the pond for somewhere to bathe later and continued walking until she finally found an alternative to sleeping on top of trees. An empty cave!

*AWOOOOOO*

An animal howled out loudly throughout the forest, prompting Jing to hurry inside the cave. It was basically pitch-black inside and Jing had to feel her way inside. Being careful not to trip over any rocks or run into a wall. Eventually she decided that this just wasn't going to work out and grabbed one of the rocks on the ground. She took the rock into her body and upgraded it on fine. The rock came out of her opposite hand and was now glowing a bright light that easily brightened up the whole cave. Although, Jing had to cover her eyes at first because it was so bright, she ultimately threw the rock away.

"That's better…"

The glowing rock was still lighting up the entire cave and now Jing finally had a good look at her temporary sleeping place. Most of the cave was filled with pebbles littered all over with occasional large and medium-sized rocks placed around. Besides that though, there wasn't really anything else inside.

"I'm still cold…" Jing muttered as her body shivered.

Jing walked over to one of the head-sized rocks and tried to lay down on it but instantly denied that choice of action. She would not be getting any sleep tonight trying to sleep on this cold hard cave floor or the stones.

"Maybe this'll work…."

Jing tried to pick up the rock but it was heavier than it looked. Her arms shook from the weight of the rock and she could barely lift it up to where she wanted it.

*BOOM*

The rock fell to the cave floor and out of Jing's hands as her strength wasn't enough to lift the rock. Anger and irritation could be seen on Jing's face behind the heavy breaths and shaking almost numb arms.

"If I can't lift the stupid thing I'll just do this instead." Jing declared angrily as she placed her hand on the rock and tried to make it phase through her arm and enter her body.

Seconds passed without anything happening and Jing got even more angry. Jing then grabbed the rock with both of her palms and was about to shake it out of rage but soon the stone phased through her arms and finally into her body. A satisfied sinister smile appeared on her face as she set the rock on fine and added an anomalous property to the rock that would make it much more accommodating as a pillow.

The stone phased out from her stomach and gently plopped on the ground. Jing picked up the improved stone. It looked identical to the other rocks with the exception of its unbelievably soft texture and warm feel to it. Just holding the stone was heating up Jing's body. A relieved peaceful smile appeared on Jing's face as she laid the stone down.

*AWOOOOOOO*

Jing jumped in fright as she looked towards the cave entrance. There was nothing there but it didn't relieve Jing of her fright completely.

"I need something to protect myself... and I don't think these clothes will protect me from much either.." Jing said looking around the cave.

She walked over to one of the large stones and completely hugged it. She wrapped her legs and arms as much as she could around the boulder. The boulder slowly phased into her body and she began setting the rock on very fine and actively shaping it into the weapon of her desire, along with some other additional anonymously properties that would only help her from any dangerous animals inside the forest. An ominous and frightening grin appeared on her face as she reached into her chest and slowly pulled out a sleek smooth and long whip made of incredibly dense rock. She cracked the whip and a large slash etched itself deeply into the cave wall.

"I wasn't even serious with that strike.. I doubt anything in this forest can harm me with this.." She muttered with a terrifying smile.

She soon inserted her leaf clothing into herself and upgraded them as well, rendering her naked momentarily as her light soft brown skin bathed in the light radiating from the cave rock. But they weren't upgraded as much as the boulder was, Jing just wanted to wear something less revealing and primitive. She refined them into a very soft silk-like tunic. The tunic was short enough to let her legs breathe no matter how much she moved around while at the same time was resilient enough to not tear from rocks or knives. It was still green in color but at least now she finally had some proper attire to wear along with comfortable undergarments.

Jing now completely equipped for any dangerous situations, laid down on her refined rock that felt as soft as clouds in the sky. She moaned in satisfaction from how great it felt and was moments away from falling asleep. But then she remembered something from earlier in the day.

'Inventory.'

Jing pulled out a rainbow-colored egg that was around the size of a watermelon and placed it on the other side of the pillow rock and then drifted off to dreamland feeling the most comfortable she ever felt in her entire life. Even if she couldn't remember any of her life before a couple hours ago.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So uh.. yeah here it is. The first chapter. I've always wanted to write a xianxia novel and well here i go. It took me a while to research a bunch of xianxia shit to add to this story so that it makes sense. I've added a bunch of my own stuff as well and didn't just rip stuff off from everyone and try and mix it all together. But anyway I still need some help from you guys regarding ideas. Nothing big but just things like pills, martial skills, weapons, cliches you want to see, cliches you don't want to see or at leasts subverted in some way, cultivation techniques, bloodlines. Anything you can think of really including certain scenarios and such you want to see. Like the famous Auction arc, Torney arc, alternate realm survival game arc, and more. Really i'm taking all ideas for this story haha. I'll add more things to include like pets, and more but this is getting quite long for an Author's note.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities!


	2. A New Companion!

"Hoooo. Hoooo." A tiny voice sounded out.

Jing could be seen turning over and in her sleep from the noise, sleeping as if she was high in the sky sleeping on yellow fluffy clouds. But the noise didn't go away and she actually felt something on top of her forehead! She quickly smacked her face as hard as she could, causing a painful sting and a fluttery sound. She looked at her hands to see any blood or something of the creature she just crushed but it turns out she didn't crush anything. She blinked her eye crust away and looked at the baby animal staring into her eyes.

"A baby owl?" Jing questioned as the owl hopped over to her rock pillow and sunk into it with a look of bliss on its face. The owlet had the potential to look quite regal and majestic in the future despite its current state of being a dumb-looking baby. It had sharp yellow eyes and a black beak along with sharp black curved talons. Its pure white feathers and wings were pretty thick even though it was just born and made it look larger than it was. It was pretty large for a baby bird Jing thought. It was around the size of her head and if it opened its wings it would for sure be bigger.

She looked around her now sunlight lit cave and everything was exactly the same inside it. Except the rainbow-colored pieces of egg shattered near her pillow. The owl was now sleeping sunken inside the pillow rock and Jing slowly got up and stretched her weary bones.

"So you're the animal that was inside that mysterious egg.. I hope you like berries because I don't have anything else I can feed you." Jing said as she placed the red berries near the pillow rock and grabbed her refined whip from last night.

Jing exited from her cave with her whip in hand as she headed towards that pond from yesterday. She spotted a few small critters and avoided a very active beehive as she made her way to the pond without any trouble. Jing chose not to immediately strip naked once she made it to the pond and instead search around the pond in case there was anything dangerous nearby. Thankfully she found nothing but more small animals and insects around the perimeter of the pond.

Jing then slowly undressed herself while keeping an eye out around the pond and then placed her clothing underneath a tree. She hid her whip underneath the water's surface just to be extra sure. And now finally engulfed herself into the warm relaxing pond. The water moving along with her figure underneath the surface of the water. It was almost as if it was directing her while at the same time following her. She was the leader and the follower simultaneously. Using her dainty mousy hands to wash any grime, dust, and filth off her body. Her hands moved up and down her figure, leaving no part uncovered and not explored. Jing had a satisfied look on her face as she started on washing her pitch-black hair.

But as she was washing her hair, she heard the sound of rustling grass behind one of the trees. She quickly dumped herself underneath the water and grabbed her whip. The source of the noise hasn't revealed themselves yet and Jing continued to hold her breath underwater. She looked out from below the pond. The pond's pellucid water easily allowed her to see from beneath the water's surface.

'If this isn't some dangerous wild animal and not some innocent loud rabbit, I'm going to be angry..' Jing swore as her air reserves were getting increasingly low.

The creature still haven't revealed themselves and Jing couldn't hold her breath anymore. She tightly gripped her whip as she burst upward for air. She whipped her hair backwards and out of her face as she opened her eyes and whipped her weapon towards the source of the sound.

"EEEEEE!" A high-pitched scream sounded out as Jing's whip wrapped around the mysterious creature.

It continued shrieking as Jing increasingly squeezed the creature with her whip as she got herself out of the pond and stared at her helpless captive screaming its head off.

"A stupid monkey? You scared the crap out of me you dumb animal!" She said with her chest breathing somewhat heavily.

She freed the monkey and kicked it away. It desperately ran away from Jing while hooting and hollering in a panic. Jing placed her hands on her hips before looking up at the tree as she was dripping wet and naked. She grabbed a piece of wood and some leaves and inserted them into her left hand. The two items were refined together and Jing combined them into forming a leaf fan that can slightly control the wind and alter the temperature of said wind. The temperature couldn't raise or fall to any crazy levels of temperature since this fan was only created dry Jing off. The leaf fan reappeared out of her right hand and Jing grabbed it before fanning the air once and watching as the wind surrounded her and dried her body off.

Jing could manually control the wind with her mind somehow once she used the fan but the wind she could control couldn't really be used for anything dangerous or harmful. Even if she shaped the wind into tiny needles or blades, the controlled winds weren't able to reach speeds dangerous enough to harm a leaf. So, Jing used the wind to completely dry herself off and then used it to bring her clothes. She put on her clothes, shut her leaf fan close and put it into her pocket, grabbed her whip and started heading back to the cave.

She still had to get her pillow and baby owl before escaping this forest. There was no way in hell that she was leaving her godly pillow behind. She doubted she'll ever be able to sleep on anything else for the rest of her lifetime, that's how good the refined rock was. Jing had a smooth journey back to the cave and noticed the owlet screeching bloody murder on the ground. She went over to investigate and saw that the owl somehow injured its leg.

"You're definitely not walking anymore with your leg bent like this… Uh.. Let's see if I can fix this.." Jing said unconfidently. She slowly and carefully raised her palm towards the baby bird and it phased through her palm and entered inside her.

"Okay… So it does work.."

Jing felt the baby owlet inside her and chose to refine it on very fine. The little guy seems like it likes her enough to be her pet. And she was curious how exactly would this owlet turn out on very fine. She had trouble deciding on whether to manually refine the bird or leave it up to her subconscious but ultimately decided on manually doing it.

'Let's see… We can't have you hurting yourself anymore… So, let's give you a strong body.. better eyes, ears, organs and stuff, a much smarter brain…, and….

*SOMETIME LATER*

Li Li, the new name for the owlet, materialized from Jing's chest and landed on her lap looking no different from when it was phased into her. However there was a small shift in its eyes. Previously they looked empty and hollow but now they seem to gain wisdom and light behind them. It wobbled unsteadily and looked very disoriented once it exited from Jing's body. It shook its head as it looked up at Jing while slowly turning its head completely upside down.

"You okay Li Li?" She asked.

The bird nodded its head upside down and Jing let giggle.

"You can understand me?" She asked a little bit excited.

The bird nodded again and started flapping its wings and taking flight. Making no sound whatsoever despite being right in front of Jing's face. If Jing wasn't looking at the owlet, she wouldn't even have known it took off. And if she couldn't hear the owl flying when she was right next to it, its future prey would stand even less of a chance of surviving if it relied on hearing.

'I don't think baby birds are supposed to fly this soon either.' Jing felt.

Li Li flew onto Jing's left shoulder and perched there as she refined her pillow into being able to change its size when kneaded a specific way. She placed the pillow into her pocket and walked to the entrance of the cave.

"Time to get out of this forest and find some people. And now that you can fly Li Li, you can fly up and show us the way. I'll wait here. Come back when you spot a place with humans like me and then show me the way towards there." Jing told Li Li.

Li Li cried out a response and took off into the sky without a sound. The little avian infant was gone within moments and it wasn't long till it returned back with a live squirrel in its talon and back on Jing's shoulder.

"You didn't just go out to get food and ignore me did you?" Jing asked slightly upset.

Li Li squawked as it pointed its talon northeast and started swallowing the squirrel whole.

"Go that way?" Jing asked a little bit grossed out by the live feeding taking place so close to her face.

Li Li finished swallowing the mammal whole and nodded its head. So, Jing took off in that direction and her journey to civilization with Li Li finally started. The sun was still shining bright and hanging high in the sky when they left the cave. The two passed through the dense forest without any issues. The only problem the two encountered for the most part was Li Li constantly flying off and bringing back a new prey to feed on Jing's shoulder. The animals that Li LI was bringing back was slowly but consistently increasing in size every time he went off and eventually it hit the point where Jing had enough.

"Li Li. You can not eat a loud screeching monkey on my shoulder!" Jing yelled.

Li Li used one of its talons and easily pierced through the skull of the monkey and into its brain, silencing it and ending its poor life. Jing's eyes got somewhat softer after realizing that Li Li thought that she just didn't like the noise the animals were making and tried to fix that.

"Okay! But just because its not screaming anymore doesn't mean you can eat it so close to my face! I'm not saying you can't go out on your own and hunt for food but I am saying you can not eat anymore animals on my shoulder. If you need to eat just eat and I'll wait till you're finished. You know the way out of here after all." Jing explained.

Li Li flew over to one of the tree branches and started ripping open the skull of the deceased monkey like a chef carefully preparing his ingredients before digging into its brain matter with its beak and swallowing pieces torn apart with its beak. Jing was leaning on the opposite tree still slightly grossed out with all the dead animal guts, organs, and such she's been seeing for the past couple of hours but has been getting used to it. Not to say she still didn't like it but she understood that that was just how animals eat.

Li Li finally finished his brain meal and moved on to the second course. He ripped open the chest cavity of the monkey and stuck his leg in and grabbed the monkey's heart.

'Such a picky eater… Couldn't just eat an arm or something and get it over with…' Jing complained while being slightly happy of her pet for having some taste. 'If you're gonna eat something it should be something as important and great as a heart or brain.'

Li Li soon finished up and the two continued their journey towards other humans. The two trekked for hours and Jing guessed it was a couple hours after noon. They finally managed to reach a dirt road with the forest on the opposite sides of it. Jing smiled widely as her goal was getting closer and closer before suddenly hearing Li Li hissing. She looked at him and saw his head was turned 180 degrees behind. He slowly turned around as he opened up his wings and turned it downward to look bigger and more threatening.

*ROOOOARRRR*

Jing's body shook in fright from the terrifying creature behind her. Her body started shaking as Li Li's hissing got louder. Her heart was running rampant as her mind was going a mile a minute in circles.

'I have to turn around… What's the point of me making this whip if I can't even use it when I need it! Come on body.. Get it together!' She yelled at herself.

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Kill, Tame, Defeat, or Flee from this starving spirit beast!**

**Rewards: Will vary depending on choice of action.]**

The spirit beast's eyes were hazed over and drool was dripping from its mouth before it suddenly took off towards Jing and Li Li. Jing heard sounds of movement behind her and screamed as she fell to the ground and turned around to see Li Li flying towards the white furred beast. The furry predator ran on all fours towards her and she gripped her whip tighter despite how badly her palms were shaking. Even if Jing knew that she could easily tear this creature into pieces with her refined whip, that meant nothing to her natural human instincts of fleeing when encounter large creatures intent on eating you.

Jing was about to close her eyes in fright of seeing what might happen to Li Li but before she could the little owlet avoided the swipes of the white predator and with its refined body dug its talons into the forehead of the large creature the size of a tiger. The creature cried out in pain and tried resist against the impossible strength of the baby bird but the grip of Li Li stayed strong as he tossed the much larger animal into a nearby tree. The impact from the creature's body against the tree bark caused the tree to crack and break in half before falling and collapsing on top of the creature.

Jing was shocked out of her mind after seeing little Li Li manhandling the furry animal. Although she did refine him on very fine, the effects of it were far stronger than she could have ever thought. She continued to watch as Li Li flew over to the trapped predator and landed on top of its head with 8 holes present on its forehead. Blood steadily flowed from the holes made by Li Li's talons and the creature howled and shouted in pain from the tree crushing it. Li Li then started picking at the animal's head with its beak and easily tore through the fur, skin, muscle, and skull of the animal. The animal howled and yelped in anger and pain before suddenly gaining a new source of strength.

Refusing to be defeated by a creature so small and pathetic. Refusing to be treated as prey and food by a creature not even 1/10 of its size. The furry creature roared with new strength as it overturned the tree that was on it. Jing finally realized that maybe Li Li can't handle this on its own. For some reason that thing looked like it got stronger somehow! Her hands stop shaking as she tightly gripped her whip and headed over to Li Li. Jing snapped her whip towards the animal and her sleek and smooth whip easily tore through the muscles of the animal, causing it to roar even louder from pain. A deep gash that penetrated all the way to the bone could be seen along the arm of the creature but this didn't stop Jing. Jing continued to clumsily whip the creature, giving it deep gashes and cuts all over its body while Li Li used its talons to claw and swipe at delicate areas on the animal's body at the same time.

As the duo continued to fight the animal, a sick smile could be seen slowly forming on Jing's face as her whip strikes were slowly getting sharper and more precise.

'The scared look in its eyes… It's so different from those haughty and hungry look they had earlier…' She grinned. 'I like it…. Keep squealing… Keep screaming…!'

The creature eventually ran out of stamina and couldn't hope to contest against the two with the many severe injuries present on its body. It was missing an arm and a leg, its left eyeball was tore out, its spine could be seen from the large bloody gash in its back, and some of its intestines were spilling out from its gut. Jing was covered all over in sweat but besides that a frightening and disturbing smile was present on her face. Li Li was perched on her shoulder cleaning its feathers of blood with an indifferent look in his eyes before they suddenly widened after spotting something shining inside the beast.

*DING*

**[Mission Completed! **

**Rewards: 10 normal tickets, 10,000 yuan, and 1 spirit stone.]**

Jing was brought out of her trance by the sound and Li Li flew over to the carcass of the animal. Jing went into her inventory and pulled out the spirit stone.

"What is this thing?" She asked the system.

…

…

'No response huh… Guess I'm on my own.' She thought as she investigated it more by touching it, feeling it, and even licking it.

But no matter what method she tried; she got no reaction out of the glowing diamond-shaped blue gem. She chucked it back inside her inventory and looked over at Li Li to see him swallowing a strange glowing red bead.

"Ah! Li Li! You can't just eat shining things! What if that was something dangerous?!" She reprimanded him.

A purple aura glowed around Li Li's body briefly and the owlet slightly grew in size before chirping happily and flying onto Jing's shoulder. Jing looked at Li Li conflicted. She didn't understand what that red bead was, what that purple thing that glowed around Li Li's body was, and why it made him grow a little bit bigger. But after seeing Li Li content she guessed that it wasn't anything bad and the two continued on their merry way.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It seems a white baby owl has hatched from the Mysterious Egg! I wonder is it just a regular ole owl or is there something special hidden within it!

Jing is getting used to her new ability more and more! I wonder what other kind of combination and things she could create with it!? Send in some suggestions!

Whoa! Organic beings can be upgraded with Jing's power?! I wonder what the future holds with this knowledge present!

Well our first battle of the story! Along with a part of Jing's true personality being revealed! I wonder what will she gain from her tickets in the next chapter!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	3. Completing Her First Mission!

After leaving the bloodied and massacred carcass of the spirit beast behind, Jing had lingering questions about it.

'What is a spirit beast?'

'What makes it so different from a regular animal?'

'Was it that strange red bead inside its stomach that made it different?'

'Just what in the world was that glowing bead in the first place?'

'Would she change too if she ate the bead like Li Li?'

'What was this gem that the system gifted her? Was it just for looks and had no purpose besides its looks?' She thought as she traveled the dirt road Li Li was leading her down.

Jing doubted the spirit stone was as simple as a mere gem or ore. The look of pure wanting and the dilation in his eye tubes that Li Li gave it before she placed it inside her inventory made her convinced that it was anything but an ordinary object. But since Li Li couldn't talk and tell her why he wanted it so much, she had to wait until she could find someone who knew what it was or somehow find the use for herself. This was the basically the same answer she had for the other questions she had on her mind.

Except… the ones she had about herself. Her state of mind near the end of that encounter made something abundantly clear to Jing. She wasn't sure if she just repressed the feeling before or never had a way of bringing this type of feeling to the light of day but..

She enjoyed making that animal suffer slowly. She enjoyed its cries of pain, its whimpering once it realized it was outmatched, and the death throes the spirit beast as it took its final cry of life that nearly took her off her feet from euphoria. She enjoyed the power that welled up inside her body as she took control of the situation and forced her will, her control, her power! Onto the creature.

She could've easily sliced off the beast's thin muscular neck after she got used to using her whip but she chose not to. She was lost in the sound and feeling of the creature's suffering.

'Now thinking about it again… I need to practice some more on using this thing.' Jing thought as she started cracking her whip at the stationary trees alongside the dirt path. Sometimes going for a completely split through the middle of objects, sometimes trying to wrap around an object, or even trying to whip a certain amount of distance away from a target.

But as she was practicing her awkward and uncoordinated whip techniques, she continued thinking about how easily she could've killed the beast. With the power of her refined rock whip, it wouldn't have been a hard task for her to decapitate it. But the fact that she didn't and caused the creature to suffer under the dual attacks of both her and Li Li, made Jing question something…

Just who was she? What kind of person would enjoy something so sick, twisted, and depraved? How would they have found out about something like this in the first place? Its unthinkable to believe that an average person could find enjoyment from causing others to suffer.

But… Even though Jing was aware of the negative implications of that type of thinking. She didn't reject it. She loved every second of that encounter. Well not every second. But the part where she and Li Li worked together to maim and kill that spirit beast. Rejecting that type of thinking would be the same as rejecting a part of herself. Even though the encounter was brief, it felt as if it lit up an old kindle to Jing that she has forgotten. She felt as if this was something that could connect her to her true self and not this somewhat blank slate that was created by the higher being.

"Hmm.. It's still pretty bright out. It feels like it should be dark already…" Jing said before remembering she had tickets!

Maybe she'll get something as useful as her current ability! Jing used her 10 tickets she received from completing the system's mission.

**[Host has received fishing rod, coffee mug, 7 Recovery Pills, and a steel sword.]**

"Well.. more healing pills isn't bad. I don't know about this other stuff though. I'll just keep it in my inventory. I hope I can find a place to sell this other stuff."

**[Host is able to sell unwanted Gacha results back to system for system points.]**

"Oh… So you can talk…" Jing said a bit irritated.

**[Only when explaining about the system functions.]**

"Whatever.. How do I go about selling this stuff?"

**[Just place it inside the inventory and just think about selling it to the system!]**

Jing closed her eyes as she thought about selling the coffee mug, steel sword, and fishing rod back to the system.

**[Host has received 12 system points. 1 from the fishing rod, 1 from the coffee mug, and 10 from the steel sword.]**

**[To enter the system's store please go to the system's menu and select Store.]**

Jing thought of the word 'menu' inside her head as she continued to practice her whip skills, leaving behind a mess of broken, toppled, and sliced trees in her wake.

**[Menu]**

**Inventory**

**Store**

**Missions**

**Gacha**

**Allies (Locked)**

**Group (Locked)**

Jing chose the store tab and could see everything that was for sale in the system.

**[Fishing Rod: 1 system point]**

**[Coffee Mug: 1 system point]**

**[Steel Sword: 10 system points]**

**[SCP-914: 5,000,000 system points]**

Jing's eyebrows twitched as she saw the insane cost for her ability. But after thinking about it again, it was a really powerful SCP. The original was a machine that would take extensive manpower to try and move and relocate. Not to add all of the restrictions and the unpredictability of the refined objects placed inside it.

'But with the system, I can control the refined objects so that they never harm me. Increasing the value of this ability so much more.'

"Isn't there anything else I can buy? Why is only the things I sold here?" She asked.

**[System is only capable of selling objects that have been acquired by the host through the wheel or missions.]**

"Why?"

**[Creator decided that it would be a bit unfun if you knew the possibilities of the world so soon.]**

"Annoying…" Jing clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

Li Li from time to time spotted some hidden insects or animals in the nearby surroundings and with the aura of a master killer, ruthlessly assassinated all his prey. Even though he was born less than 24 hours ago, his refinement from his mom changed him into an entirely new being essentially. Owlets his age shouldn't even be able to fly, much less, form coherent thought and form opinions. But with his transformed self, everything about him was improved. His instincts were honed to the edge and even further. His feathers were strong, sharp, and as silent as darkness itself.

Li Li could fan one of his wings and a barrage of feathers that would fly from it could penetrate through the skull of most creatures and objects. His beautiful feathers regrew back in an instant. He could control the growth rate of his feathers and even make his feathers grow as much as he wants, provided that he has enough energy to do so. His ear holes buried beneath his feathers could hear sounds further than 100 meters (328 ft) away, easily allowing him to hear any source of food or danger nearby. And the fact that his mother's goal is right up ahead.

"Li Li! We made it! There's people!" She said excitedly.

*DING*

**[Mission Completed!**

**Rewards:**

**3 Normal Tickets**

**3,000 Yuan**

**Title gained! "No Longer A Jungle Girl!"]**

Jing's pockets were hefty with the dollar bills and she was excited to see what she could spend it all on. But before that she asked the system what did gaining a title do for her.

**[A title can be used to strengthen the host or aid them in a certain way. Go into your inventory and think of using it for yourself. Details about the use of the title will be clear then.]**

Jing leaned on a nearby wall as she went to find out about the title.

**[No Longer A Jungle Girl makes all interactions in regions besides jungles 1% more positive.]**

'What's a measly one percent going to change? But I'll take it since there aren't any negatives to it.' Jing decided as a young boy suddenly came up to her. She decided to save the tickets for later.

"Heya there miss! You look a bit lost. Is this your first time in Yellow Jade City?" The boy asked.

Jing looked at the young child. He was a head shorter than her and she was 162 centimeters (5'4) in height. Pretty average for a girl. He was dressed in shabby clothes but looked as if he got around quite alright. He had plain brown hair, an innocent childish face with chubby cheeks and a certain mischievous feel hidden behind his eyes. But Jing decided to let the boy lead her. She has absolutely 0 knowledge about anything and this boy seems like he knows enough for her to get a head start.

"I am a bit lost. Do you mind showing me around?" She asked.

"No problem miss! Anything for a beauty like yourself! Cool bird by the way!" He grinned with a missing front tooth. Li Li's eyes sharpened on the boy.

He had her follow behind him as he started giving her an in-depth tour around the city. He showed her plenty of places while also giving her much needed information she had no idea about. Such as the fact that Yellow Jade City was partnered with the Golden Serpent Sect. She asked what the Golden Serpent Sect was and the boy looked at her as if she was crazy for not knowing. But Jing didn't let this bother her and let the boy form his own thoughts about her as she got her much needed information. The Golden Serpent Sect was one of the strongest sects around. Anyone apart of that sect would be revered and awed within the city because just joining the sect is like leaping over the moon in a single leap. Jing wanted to know more. What was so different about these people that they were looked upon so fondly for? And the boy finally told her.

"Cultivators!" He revealed. "Cultivators are gods amongst men! They can crush mountains with a single attack, split oceans with just a palm, and fly far above the skies without any issues! No one dares to mess with cultivators besides other cultivators and spirit beasts!"

Jing then asked what a spirit beast was and why could it match up with cultivators.

"Spirit beasts have formed beast cores! Beast cores give a wild beast strength beyond its limits and causes it to change into beasts that can use Qi! It is even rumored that if a spirit beast grows strong enough they can transform into humans and use cultivators' techniques!"

"What is Qi?"

"Well… I'm not too sure on what it is but I do know that it is what makes cultivators separate from normal people like us Miss. Cultivators can use Qi and it can make them do all sorts of incredible things. Creating fire, ice, breaking through trees with a single finger, Using a leaf blade to cut through flesh, and even lift stones that weigh over 1000 jin!"

"That's incredible." She said.

"You have no idea Miss! The Golden Serpent Sect is even recruiting disciples in 2 days! I plan on going when they come back in a few years. I'm still a little too young and weak to try and join now." He said mournfully.

"The power to crush mountains and split oceans…..? Interesting…" She muttered lowly with a strange smile on her face.

The boy suddenly started shivering once he heard the tone of the older girl. He felt a dangerous and scary aura coming from her after hearing her say that. Maybe this girl wasn't worth the trouble… He started slowly backing away with his usual trademark smile he uses on all the suckers he goes around to get tips from while rubbing the back of his head.

"Well it was really nice to meet cha miss! But I think my mom is calling me so… see ya around!" He tried to dash away but before he could run, a delicate hand grabbed his shoulder.

That hand caused him to shiver in fright even though he felt that he could easily knock her hand away. She wasn't even using much force to hold him. He could just shove it away and dash off before she could do anything. But his instincts as a human was telling him that only death awaited him if he resisted. But it wasn't from the older girl he was feeling this from… but the bird on her shoulder… Any signs of resisting could end in his death…

The bird had him locked in its sights and he felt as if he was being stared down at by a spirit beast of the 7th stage! His body was sweating all over along with his constant shaking. Tears were getting ready to run down his face. A spine-chilling smile appeared on Jing's face as she took in the boy fright and terror.

"Before you leave boy… This older sister has a few more questions for you." She said whispering close to his ear and making a certain part of his rise from the close contact with the creepy older girl.

She hugged him close from behind like an older sister would to a younger brother making his member rise even higher. He felt as if he was being toyed with a giant snake. Captured in between its body as it hissed above his head, capable of swallowing him in one gulp or freeing him. The older girl's grip on him wasn't tight or uncomfortable in the slightest, but the terrifying feeling she was giving him was more than enough to make him feel as if his chest was being crushed and the air in his lungs being squeezed empty.

He tried to use his eyes and signal the nearby people for help but to them it looked like a caring older sister caring for her terrified younger brother. They didn't know why he was so scared but the boy's sister would definitely be able to handle it. Cause they sure didn't want to.

"I need you to tell me where the sect test is and what this little thing is for." She said pulling out the spirit stone from her inventory and waving it in front of the boy.

"I-It-It's in the middle of the city..! Next to the Floating Jade Restaurant and the Beast Pavillion… And that's…" The boy took a big gulp of fright once he recognized it. "That's a spirit stone…! Only cultivators have a use for those! That's all I know I swear!"

'Well what a fruitful experience.' Jing smiled.

The boy felt something soft press against his cheek before having complete control over his body again. He quickly dashed away and never looked back at the creepy girl he wanted to scam. He'd had to find another way of paying off the Darkmoon Gang. Maybe they'll let him off if he tells them about her..

Jing grinned at the figure of the terrified boy.

"I guess being accepted into that sect is a great way of finding out more about this place and how it works. But… just to be safe I should try and get more information.. There will definitely be more people interested in trying the Golden Serpent's test who have more knowledge than me about certain things." Jing decided.

"But first. Let's do some shopping Li Li. My clothes are gaining me too much attention.." She said after noticing the many stares to her clothing and the fact that no one is wearing anything even remotely similar to her tunic.

'Not to mention that I'm the only dark-skinned person I've seen inside this city so far..'

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm wondering if i should combine the allies and group tabs... they seem similar but at the same time not.

A little insight into Li Li's mind has been shown! How cute... he sees Jing as his mommy. OR IS IT!?

I wonder what kind of events will Jing find herself inside Yellow Jade City before going to try out for the sect recruitment test!? Send in some suggestions on what you might want to see or for her to uncover.

I wonder what the Darkmoon gang will do when they find out that Jing has one measly spirit stone?!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	4. Exploring Yellow Jade City!

Jing walked down the populated streets filled with the many different sorts of people around. Listening in to all the useless chatter and peaceful interactions. Learning more and more about the types of people who live here, their worries, and their idle thoughts. Even the negative side of the city was present inside the main part of town. As she walked towards one of the more prominent clothing stores the boy showed her, she managed to see a group of rather unsavory individuals bullying a local vendor and a boy. A handsome boy, most likely equal in age to her, was laughing haughtily as the weak, middle-aged man kissed his feet with such desperation you'd think the boy's feet were made of gold. The handsome youth had a deep fiery red hair and a sheathed sword on his waist. His body was lean and powerful but he didn't look like the type to train his body. At least to Jing anyway. The young bruised and beaten boy next to them wasn't thought of at all as he slowly but surely attempted to crawl away from the scene with a look of pure hatred and disgust in his eyes. The boy didn't look like anything special. He had black hair like a majority of those present now but looked pretty scrawny and small. Probably a couple years younger than herself but not too young.

Jing was curious. Why would this older gentlemen be lowering himself to such a humiliating degree for this pretty boy? And for what reason did that boy get hurt to such a state?

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Follow and find out exactly where the ordinary youth is heading!]**

**[Rewards: Rare Ticket]**

'A rare ticket? That's a whole two tiers above the normal tickets I've been given lately and two tiers below the highest rarity ticket. Something is fishy about this mission…' Jing hypothesized.

"Li Li go follow him. Make sure he doesn't spot you. If by chance anything happens, try and take whatever you believe is valuable and bring it back to me." Jing told him while gently massaging his feathers.

Li Li took off high into the skies and began observing the boy far from where he could be seen by any normal person. Based on his current path, Li Li could guess that he was heading towards the forest. But for what reason could this normal mortal have for going into the dangerous forest filled with wild beasts and spirit beasts without nary a weapon in sight? Not adding his ugly wounds gained from the motley crew of gangsters.

Li Li continued to tail the boy from high in the skies as he determinedly headed somewhere inside the forest. Throwing fear, reason, and all hell into the wind to get to his destination.

* * *

Why was this elderly gentleman kissing the feet of the handsome youth? The reason was because this young master was no ordinary youth! He was Tang Wuying! The only son of the amazing and powerful Lian Wuying! The sole ruler of Yellow Jade City! A youth with a great talent and future! Stated to already have reached the peak of the fifth stage of the Qi Gathering realm! His strength reaching over 1775 jin! Easily able to overpower any mortals with just his pinkie finger.

"Younger Master Wuying! I had no eyes and couldn't see Mt Tai! Please forgive my horrendous and terrible actions of offending your glorious self!" The street vendor begged as he kissed the feet of the young master.

Tang Wuying's face showed a sneer that was getting wider and wider the more this ugly fool praised him. The sooner these thick-headed peasants get it through their heads that they should be groveling beneath his feet and worshipping the very marks he leaves behind, the better their lives would be! His very presence in front of them should make their lives 9x better! And gaining his wrath should make them want to offer their daughters and wives as payment for upsetting his mood.

But. This ugly…. Disgusting…. Old fool dares to not sell to him just because some insignificant ant got there first?! He's lucky his father threatened to cut off his allowance if he killed another mortal from angering him.

He smirked.

But he didn't say anything about beating them like pigs… So, he told his followers to beat the boy who dared not give him what he wanted, showing the surrounding plebeians the consequences of daring to go against his words. The boy who resolutely refused to give up something as meagre and pathetic as a simple apple to him of all people! He dared to spit in the face of this young lord's good gracious!

'I even gave him face by giving him another chance of rectifying his words. But no. He refused to kowtow 3 times and call me his father. The nerve of some of these peasants….'

Wuying kicked the old man off his sandals, completely fed up with this whole situation.

"Let's go." He said.

Leaving the surrounding civilians to murmur and gossip about the young master.

* * *

Jing had her ears fully opened and in work. Learning many things about this supposed young lord.

"That's why we never mess with cultivators son. Don't do anything to get on their bad side no matter what."

"That young master is at it again with his rampant bullying…"

"And since his father is the ruler of Yellow Jade City, there is nothing anyone can do against him."

"It isn't all bad though. I hear that the young master is going to take the Golden Serpent Sect test in two days! So we'll be free from his tyranny soon!"

"Thank goodness… He probably has a good shot at passing too since he's already at the fifth stage of the Qi Gathering realm! He's a rare talent I hear for reaching that stage at his age!"

"He'll be out of our hair soon enough. His father is no help either. Any complaints about "little Wuying" is swept under the rug or the person that made the complaint is gotten rid of."

Jing decided she has heard enough and entered inside the clothing store to get something that made her stand out less. A standard ordinary hanfu robe looked nice. One of the stores workers came over to her with a smile. A fake one, but professional, nonetheless.

"Do you need any help miss?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you. I'll take this." Jing said choosing one of the cheapest robes on display.

The look on the worker's face turned into one of disgust and ridicule once he saw her choice. A visible vein appeared on top of Jing's forehead from anger but she held in her rage with a smile.

'I was initially interested in this girl because of her unique and appealing outfit.. but considering that she can only afford something as trashy as that.. she must have stolen it.' The worker thought haughtily.

"You know… if you decided to sell that outfit you have on now, you could afford to buy any one of these amazing options!" He said gesturing to the row of expensive silk robes on display.

While Jing could pay for them with the 13,000 Yuan gained from her last two successful missions without a problem, she didn't see a reason to with her ability. To her a piece of wood has the same amount of use as a piece of iron or steel. Spending more cash on something when she could pay less for the same thing would be crazy. So, she refused.

"No thanks. I'll take this and go."

The worker apparently didn't count of her refusing his "good will" and it was apparent on his increasingly annoyed face.

"I see… Okay then… That'll cost you 600 yuan in total." He lied.

Jing took a look at the price tag for the shoddy robes she chose to pick and it said it only cost 300 yuan.

"The sign says it costs 300 yuan. Not 600." She corrected.

"Sorry about that Miss… I seem to have forgotten to replace that old sign. The price had increased due to…. an _oversupplying demand….."_ He spat through his teeth.

Jing's patience was wearing thin. Why was this guy making so much trouble for her when she just wanted to buy some raggedy clothes? If he continued this nonsense she will decide to do her shopping elsewhere. And maybe in the future a cute little owl can give him some trouble by ripping his clothes to shred in the middle of a public space. Who knows?

Jing went over to grab a different set of shabby robes that costed 300 yuan and just as she placed the clothes on the counter.

"I'm sorry but that one has increased in-"

Jing threw the clothes in the guy's face

"You will regret this!" She yelled and stormed out of the store. Intent on getting her revenge in the future for dare causing trouble for her. She heard him yell something from behind her but she ignored it and went into a less fancy clothing store.

This store had much more diversity in regards to its type of clothing along with cheaper prices. But the clothes were made out of cheaper material. More rough and uncomfortable compared to the silk outfits in the other store. Thankfully that wasn't a problem for Jing! She grabbed the cheapest robes, sandals, and sash she could find and brought them to the counter. The employee this type was a nice old woman. She had an amiable and gentle smile that could probably brighten up anyone's day.

"That'll be 330 Yuan Missy." She told her.

Jing reached into her pocket and into her inventory as she pulled out the necessary payment without any issue. The woman took her money and Jing left with her new items. Her anger has slightly dissipated but her revenge will still come for that annoying guy. But for now… more shopping!

* * *

Li Li has been following the boy for a while now and it seems that the boy was in a dangerous situation. He was followed by a few of those other men from earlier that injured him in the first place and seemed to want to finish the job in the name of their young lord.

'How pathetic.' Li Li thought as he watched from the trees as the men slowly surrounded the boy with weapons.

But he would not interfere. His mother told him only to watch the boy and to take whatever seemed useful. He didn't know why his mother thought something of great importance would show up but what kind of son would he be if he didn't dutifully carry out her wishes? So, he continued to watch as the men stabbed the youth multiple times over with glee. They laughed loudly as the boy screamed and yelled in pain as he was fatally wounded over and over. Tears of blood could be seen running down his eyes. His eyes were full of nothing but hatred, rage, and indignation. His final words were cursing the entire generation of Tang Wuying and swearing to the heavens if he lives through this he would annihilate his entire ancestry. The amount of soul, determination, and power in his voice oscillated throughout the surroundings, scaring the murderers' very souls. They stopped and took a look at their horrendous deed before turning away and leaving the boy's body to get eaten by wild animals.

Li Li felt something in the air. Something powerful… Something ancient…. His feathers rustled in agitation and he had half a mind of leaving immediately. His instincts were telling him to fly as fast as he could and get away from this area right now. But he is not a creature of instinct anymore. After being saved by his mom, he has become much more than a simple owlet and so, chose to stay and ignore his instincts.

The clouds parted in the sky as a purple object came streaking down from above. Li Li saw with his enhanced sight the object that was headed straight for the deceased boy. It was an organ… It was his fourth favorite organ to eat. The two soft meat organs inside the chests of monkeys is what it resembled.

The purple organ crashed between the dead boy and the living ones. The goons were knocked off their feet from the force of the impact. A small crater was made when it landed and Li Li could see the thing beating. As if it was somehow alive… His instincts were screaming at him even louder as his mind wondered… is this what his mother wanted him to get? He got into position on the tree and flew towards the organ as fast as he could, intent on snatching it up into his talons.

But the purple beating organ had a different idea. It was as if it somehow knew of Li Li's intentions and at an even faster speed threw itself into the body of the deceased boy.

'Impossible…' Li Li thought as he witnessed the boy's body rapidly healing and the organ moving itself into position inside his body.

Li Li was about to tear open the boy's chest himself and get the strange body part for his mother but he felt a strong overpowering presence warning him. But no matter how overbearing and powerful this ancient force was, Li Li would do anything for his mom… And this was just a corpse not too long ago, how tough can it be?

Li Li flew towards the boy that was being healed back to his perfect state. He reached him in an instant and tore open the boy's chest cavity with his talons. His object of desire was staring him right in the face and as he reached in with his talon, a sudden purple force erupted from the organ and launched Li Li far into the sky. Li Li squawked in surprise before quickly realigning himself and watching as the organ's ancient power seemingly decreased. The organ glowed a lighter color compared to its darker deep purple hue from earlier as the boy's body started recovering once more but at a much slower pace.

"YOU DARE TO INTERRUPT ME ONCE MORE VILE BEAST AND I WILL END YOU IN SECONDS!" A booming overwhelming voice shouted inside Li Li's head.

'You are strong unseeable one. But, I can tell that you are weakening. That strange glowing meat will belong to my mother! I can feel strong energy coming off of it and my mother would benefit from having such a strong power!' Li Li responded back.

'Hah….? A first stage spirit beast being able to speak back to me…? Being able to survive the force of my aura….? Being sentient enough to form thoughts!? WHAT ARE YOU CREATURE?!' The voice questioned with so much force Li Li almost felt compelled to answer him.

'I'm Li Li. The son of Jing! And you will be the object that makes my mother even greater!' Li Li declared as he determinedly soared back down towards the almost fully recovered boy.

Li Li was closing in at fast speeds and just as he was about to ripped the boy to shreds, the goons from earlier appeared in front of him with purple glowing eyes. One of the goons picked up the youth nearly completely healed and started running away deep into the forest while the others distracted and held up Li Li. Li Li could only watch as the youth managed to get away from him and keep the glowing piece of meat. Although annoyed with his failure, he was severely outmatched compared to the being inside that meat. Whether in experience, intelligence, energy, or age. That person was far above him in everything.

'But it won't happen a second time….' Li Li swore as he dug into the skull of one of the many goons and started eating pieces of their brain.

* * *

Jing could be seen dressed in a completely ordinary outfit roaming the streets. If anyone took a look at her they would quickly look elsewhere simply because of how plain and boring she looked. Even if they had a reason for looking at her, they still felt the need to look elsewhere and think of her as nothing special. This wasn't due to any refinement from her ability or anything. This was just how normal Jing looked, walked, and acted. But she did refine the items she bought earlier but those were for other purposes not really relevant to her current situation besides the one that made them feel like the most comfortable clothing in the world. Even the richest silk in the mortal realm is nothing compared to the clothes Jing is wearing right now.

"It's getting dark.. I wonder where Li Li is?" She asked herself as she headed towards one of the inns inside the city.

Just moments before she headed inside the inn, Li Li returned to her and perched on her shoulder.

"Well? What did you find out?" She asked.

Li Li flew to the ground and started etching words into the ground with his talon. Words that Jing remembered... and somehow knew how to read…. The letters were different compared to the writing she's seen around the city but she still understood it all the same. She wondered how the hell did Li Li know those words as well..

"I guess we'll have to watch out for him and his ancient lung if he shows up again…" She said looking at Li Li. "I'm going to have to teach you about anatomy. You can't call different organs soft meat this chewy meat that. If it was located right here." She pointed to her left chest and right chest. "Those were his lungs. Not strange purple meat okay?" She said.

**[Mission Completed!]**

**[Rewards: ****1 Rare Ticket!]**

'Well… It's good to know that I don't have to personally involve myself to complete missions that the system wants from me. I'll save this ticket and those three other ones I saved for the morning. I'm pretty sleepy.' She yawned.

Li Li nodded as he flew back onto her shoulder. The two then entered inside the inn and paid for a room for two nights. They didn't ask for any food because Jing still had some refined berries. But Jing absolutely refused to sleep on the bed before refining it into something that was more suitable for a person of her stature. The entire bed wouldn't fit inside her but the comforter and covers could thankfully. And that was all she needed as she pulled out her shrunken pillow rock and kneaded it into its original size.

"I bet you remember this don't you?" Jing smiled as she looked at Li Li's face once he recognized the pillow.

He sunk himself inside the pillow just like he did a few moments after being born and quickly fell asleep after eating one of the golden berries. Jing showed a motherly smile as she laid with Li Li on the pillow and quickly fell asleep as well.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A few persons of interest have arrived! I wonder how their futures will play out! The third person of interest for the two boys haven't even been introduced yet!

But our first arrogant young master has been introduced! I wonder will he somehow find himself involved with Jing in some way! Or will he find himself on the receiving end of a blood feud his underlings made!?

I wonder what idea does Jing have in mind for the rude store clerk!?

A little bit more of Li Li's personality has been shown in this chapter and i wonder what kind of power could have been held inside that godly lung from the heavens!? I guess we'll find out in the future with the young boy!

It has finally been revealed that he can communicate with Jing! I wonder what reason he could've had for not doing it all this time... and what kind of reward will Jing get from the Gacha with a whole Rare ticket!?


	5. All This Trouble From A Small Boy!

It was morning time inside Yellow Jade City and 2 grown men could be seen waiting outside Shell Inn. The two men looked like an unscrupulous bunch as they stood posted outside the inn, scaring all those entering and all those exiting. It doesn't help the fact that they were also glaring at anyone entering or exiting from it and the fact that they were cultivators. The inn's owners wished the men would go away but they knew that angering cultivators would only bring nothing but trouble to their business. Cultivators reigned over normal mortals with an iron fist. They were nothing more than cattle and insects to cultivators.

Most of the laws inside Yellow Jade City doesn't protect mortals much except in terms of businesses. And if there's a dispute between a mortal and a cultivator, the mortal better hope that he has some sort of substantial background preventing the cultivator from killing him openly or secretly. But then again there really isn't some sort of organization inside Yellow Jade City that keeps order around the city unless you count City Lord Wuying's personal forces.

"When is she coming out?! We've been here for most of the morning! We should just rush in there and drag out her."

"Give her 5 more minutes. A single spirit stone isn't worth causing that much of a fuss. Especially since it's a low-tiered spirit stone. But it is enough to pay Lil Qiu's debts.

"A low-tiered spirit stone is enough to let a mortal live 3 months without a problem if they sold it! What do you mean don't make a fuss?!"

"As cultivators now, something as simple as living like kings among mortals isn't something we should be aiming for. The leader sure isn't satisfied with being the second leader of Yellow Jade City. And we shouldn't be satisfied finally being shown cultivation methods."

"Screw off.. I'm satisfied being a king among mortals. And since this little prissy bitch wants to waste my time so badly. My little friend here will have to teach her a lesson after we finished getting what we need." He said cuffing his crotch aggressively.

His partner simply sighed at his crude gesture and narrow-minded friend.

"Whatever."

* * *

*SMACK*

"And this is the tongue, this is the esophagus, this is the intestines, small ones, and large ones, This is the liver, this is the pancreas, and….

A smacking sound issued after each explanation of the organs.

"Hoo." The bird responded.

"Good! These are the most vital organs most creatures need to live. The brain, heart, kidney, liver, and lungs. And these are the spots to target when fighting humans. It will severely impact their abilities to fight or just cause them a terrible amount of pain." The human said with a smile on her face.

A reasonable pep in her voice appeared as she talked about breaking the shinbone, shattering ribs, penile fractures, testicular torsion, jaw dislocation, ruptured achilles tendon, knee dislocation, and….

Li Li was grasping all this knowledge quite easily but didn't understand why it made his mother so happy. Sure, sometimes he ate his food alive and had it screaming or squirming a lot but he didn't really think of what his prey was feeling or thinking. He was just thinking about not being hungry anymore and making sure his food couldn't escape. Maybe there was something he wasn't understanding from his mom.

* * *

"And that's it Li Li!" Jing said with a flushed excited face. "Now you should know how to correctly identify most organs and know which ones to target last! I try and save the vital ones for last. Keeping them alive is so much more satisfying. Especially if they are stubborn and willful. Those types of people just make me…!"

"Aaaaah!" She gushed with an exaggerated moan before noticing Li Li staring at her with his head completely upside down.

She adjusted her glasses and returned to her usual plain look.

"Sorry. Talking about this just gets me a little excited. We'll go get something to eat in a bit." Jing told him as she sat on the bed.

'Time to use those tickets I saved for today…'

Jing mentally went into her inventory and chose to use the 1 rare ticket and 3 normal tickets.

**[Host has received SCP – 222, Farming hoe, 1x Grass seed, and an anomalous pair of dumbbells.]**

"Nice.. Let's see what this SCP is.." Jing muttered as she went into her inventory and was about to choose it.

**[Host! To see the effects of certain Gacha results just think "Info!"]**

Jing's eyebrows slightly scrunched up.

'But before you didn't let me find out what the spirit stone was. Why now?' She questioned.

**[Host! The system clearly said "certain Gacha results" not all! If there are anymore questions then blame the system's creator!]**

'How annoying…' Jing thought as she tried to get the information for SCP – 222.

Seconds went by as she read the information about this scp and a devious smile appeared on her face as she finished.

"Well… this should be useful once I find my first underling…" Jing grinned devilishly before focusing on the second item from her Gacha that interested her. "Now what are dumbbells and what makes it so special?"

She thought about gaining information about the equipment and learned exactly what they were used for and what made them anomalous.

"A pair of strengthening equipment with no label telling its exact weight but when used by anyone, they will state that it is the perfect weight for physical exercise," She muttered. "Useless. But could be useful through refinement somehow. I'll save it in my inventory until I find a way to refine them into something useful. But the grass seed and hoe can be of definite use to me after refining them. Unfortunately, I don't plan on succumbing to being a farmer quite yet. I'll save those for later as well." Jing decided as she chose to absorb SCP – 222's ability into her body.

A terrible bout of pain wracked her body all over seconds after she chose to absorb SCP- 222. She curled up on the bed in fetal position as she bit the bed to stop herself from screaming as raw and powerful knowledge assaulted her. Li Li flew over and tried to help her but she gestured him that she was okay by showing a smile even though she was going through hell currently both physically and mentally.

Li Li obviously knew that his mother was in terrible pain but knew not the reason! He looked all over the room for anything that could've caused this but found nothing and heard nothing! Was it possible that his mother was being attacked by something he couldn't see or hear? What kind of thing would that be!? Since he couldn't attack anyone or anything for harming his mother, the only thing he could do was stay by her side and comfort her as she went through this painful experience.

Jing hugged Li Li's soft velvety-like feathers tight as her body and mind was going crazy with pain. It would only be until her door came crashing down through brute force that her focus was taken off the pain assaulting her body. Li Li hissed at the intruders as Jing gripped her whip from inside her clothes.

"Don't cause too much damage alright?"

"This little bitch had it coming alright?! We've been waiting for hours!" The second intruder said angrily as he started pulling down his pants.

"I meant to the building and at least pretend as if you care about the spirit stone!"

"Yeah yeah. She'll be telling us where it is in like… give me 5 minutes." The second goon guessed as waddled over to Jing in his undergarments.

Li Li loudly squawked towards the two and extended one of his wings outward. To the two men however, it sounded much too squeaky and cute to be threatening in the slightest. They ignored the bird and the second man inched closer and closer to Jing.

"Don't kill them Li Li…!" Jing strained to say. "I can't let them get off so easily….!" She told him with anger in her eyes.

Li Li understood the secondary meaning in his mother's words and flapped his single wing at the incoming trespasser, sending numerous sharp feathers to soar towards the two. The calmer goon managed to dodge in time despite his shocked and sweating appearance. He was no simple gangster either! He was a Qi Gatherer of the second stage! That meant his body was tougher than the average mortal but even he knew that he wouldn't be able to survive without injuries if one of those feathers managed to hit him! His partner on the other hand, merely scoffed and attempted to block all the sharp projectiles with his palm.

*STABSTABSTABSTABSTAB*

"AHHHHHHHHHH MY HAND!" He screamed with his hand and arm filled with feathers pin cushioned into his skin.

He fell over from his trousers being wrapped around his legs and screamed even louder after falling on his arm with the imbedded painful feathers. His partner took this chance to take out the dangerous spirit beast. Even though he could sense that the owl was at the first stage of cultivation, those feathers told a vastly different story…

'This owl must have unlocked its bloodline or…. it's a mutant.. A simple first stage spirit beast isn't capable of standing against cultivators like us! It's just impossible!' The first thug thought as he threw a vase towards the bird.

Li Li blocked the vase with his wing and it softly impacted against him before falling gently on the bed. The burglar used this chance when Li Li blocked the vase and his own sight, to attack with his knife. Li Li would've rolled his eyes if his eyes were capable of moving around. He easily fended off the man's blade with his bare foot. The shocked expression of the man meant nothing to Li Li as he gripped the blade and crushed it into pieces with his baby owl talons. The man was stunned to absolute silence as his body shook in fright from the might of this infant spirit beast. It seems the bird also picked up on his fear as it began inching closer and closer to him with its sharp gaze.

He thought about fleeing and just forgetting this whole situation entirely but before he could put his plan into action, a whip suddenly grasped around him! He was tied up and couldn't break free even with his cultivation level! His original target was suddenly free of whatever ailments that was acting on her earlier and she managed to capture him! A mortal with no cultivation whatsoever was somehow able to keep him tied.

"Impossible! You're just some little girl! How can you have so much strength!? Have you unlocked part of an ancient bloodline too?!" He asked in disbelief and anger.

Jing slowly roused herself up and got off the bed. She saw the fainted body of the second goon who wanted to rape her and his shriveled member hanging out. Disgust and pure bloodlust radiated from her body, affecting all those present. Li Li felt like ripping these men into thousands of pieces. The first intruder felt as if he kicked the beehive of the Fire Crystal Hornets, only suffering was present in his near future. And if he was lucky death.

*STOMP*

"AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sleeping beauty cried as a certain friend of his was stepped on. His partner's little friend immediately shrunk inside itself and he was starting to think that maybe they have messed with the wrong mortal…

"Wanting to use this dirty pathetic thing on me? You should be grateful I didn't burst your lower parts. But its fine. You won't be needing this thing anymore anyway." Jing said cruelly as her voice got significantly sharper and her aura was becoming more demonic.

She saw him in fetal position holding his crushed member and wailing loudly. Jing smirked as she told Li Li to close the door. She repeatedly kicked and stomped the rapist before noticing a particular shiny object in the man's pocket. She pulled it out and it turned out to be a small knife. Another demonic smile appeared on her face as she gripped the knife in her other hand and freed the other thug.

He immediately tried to escape through the door but was whipped across the back of the skull by Jing and kicked in the face by Li Li, knocking the cultivator of the second stage in the first realm unconscious.

"Now Li Li. Let mama show you a more in-depth study session about the human anatomy. Since these pieces of filth gladly chose to step up and help me out." Jing told the young owlet as she used her whip and threw the rapist towards the wall roughly.

He was about to faint but a swift kick in his family makers interrupted that idea.

"AIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!" His shrill voice screeched

"Class is in session. No sleeping allowed." She cheekily smirked.

The Shell Inn was forced to listen to a symphony of hellish sounds and noises for hours on end. The sound of a crazy woman screaming, yelling, and moaning loudly throughout the building. Men screaming, shouting for help, and for those unfortunate enough to have rooms next to Jing's crying. It wouldn't be till late in the afternoon that Jing finished teaching her class. But this wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary for the citizens of Yellow Jade City. If a cultivator was in a particular bad mood and a mortal somehow pushed their last button there's no telling what they would do. The situation inside Shell Inn wasn't anything new or even rare. But this place did have one of the best breakfast and beds all over town so… Most people just got used to it and were happy that it just wasn't them involved with whatever was happening.

The room was absolutely destroyed. The bed was in pieces, covers were torn to shreds, the furniture was all broken, and blood was present all over the floor. Some even spilling beneath the front door. Jing could be seen breathing heavily on the floor with her robe slightly loosened, exposing her smooth nice shoulders, modest sweating cleavage, and nice slightly chubby brown thighs. A barely noticeable trail could be seen slowly sliding down her leg that came from farther up her robes. In front of her, were two still breathing mutilated, bloodied, and passed out figures sprawled on the floor.

"This… Place…. Is… A lot more interesting than I thought…." She said speaking between heavy breaths with a bright smile on her face. "Bloodlines, Qi, cultivation methods, Darkmoon Gang, spirit stones, and cultivation stages." She remembered from her intensive questioning.

She wiped her forehead and opened up a window letting the cool flowing wind inside. She looked over at the trash bleeding out in the corner and finally made up her mind after a long bout of thinking.

"It'll be safer if you two don't bring me any troubles in the future… I don't know how well liked you are within the Darkmoon Gang but since you told me no one knew about your little mission to come after me, it'll only be safer for me to do this." Jing said to the unresponsive quivering and whimpering mess of flesh in the corner.

She placed her hand on the two men and they were sucked into her palms and into her body. She placed them on the rough setting and a few seconds later a small pile of ash exited from her hands.

"That was a bit easier than I thought… I was kind of nervous killing them directly and trying to hide the body but this is much better. Just suck and ash. There's a sort of disconnection with it.. Like I didn't really kill them even though I did. It's a bit weird." Jing muttered to herself as she dispersed the pile of ash outside the window.

"Let's go Li Li. I don't wanna gain any attention from this. And I'm starving.." Jing said as she stood on the edge on the window.

Li Li grabbed Jing's hanfu and flew outside the window with her hanging underneath him. Jing weighed practically nothing with Li Li's anomalous strength. Normally the sight of a young girl being whisked off into the sky would cause massive attention in the streets below, but no one noticed them at all. Li Li's silent takeoff and fast speeds ensured that even if someone managed to spot them, they wouldn't even understand what they saw before it was long gone into the Immortal Forest.

* * *

Li Li flew into an empty spot inside the forest not very far away from Yellow Jade City. He gently dropped Jing onto the dirt path. She staggered about confusedly as she got her bearings back. Holding her head with her eyes spinning, Jing tried to get her sense of balance back and Li Li helped her by forcing her to stand still.

"Flying…. Is not my favorite.. or maybe my body isn't strong enough to handle those speeds…." She mumbled as she shook her head and got herself together.

"Hoo." Li Li responded.

"Let's finally go eat now. I hope I haven't spoiled my taste buds after eating those berries I improved..." Jing said a little bit worried that she might have to refine every single food she eats in the future on very fine.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright! i made it before wednesday! i have a few ideas for the farming hoe and grass seed in terms of refinement but send in your own ideas on how they should be refined! And if ur not exactly sure how refinement works at this point just ask! I'll tell you if it can or can't do something.

I purposely didn't explain what SCP - 222 did because it would be more special when i show it off int he future. I didn't intially plan for this chapter to happen though. The next chapter was suppose to be this chapter but i had to follow up with one of the loose ends i had in the earlier chapters with the boy.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	6. The Last Day Before The Test!

Jing and Li Li reentered Yellow Jade City. Jing didn't notice any strange looks besides the ones aimed at Li Li. A young girl walking with an owl in the afternoon would catch anyone's attention briefly. Most people would turn away continue minding their own business once they saw how average and uninteresting she looked though. Children worked in an opposite manner however. They didn't care how she looked and acted. They only cared about how cool and pretty Li Li looked on her shoulder. Typically Jing would try to avoid the sights of children to stand out less but some moments couldn't be avoided.

"Big sister!"

"Big Sis!"

"Big sis!"

Three children surrounded her with sparkles in their eyes. Two boys and one girl. But those sparkles weren't for her, they were for Li Li. The children looked like siblings. They all had black hair, dirty clothes, and messy hair. Jing guessed they were orphans or were apart of a poor family. If Jing was being honest, she was just glad that they weren't trying to ask or beg her for money.

"Big sister where did you find him?!"

"Big Sis can we play with him?!"

"Big sis does he bite?!"

Jing put on a gentle smile.

"One question at a time." She said in an elder sister-like tone.

The children all looked at each other before somehow silently agreeing on what question to ask.

"Can we pet him?!" They asked simultaneously.

Jing looked at Li Li.

"Do you want them to pet you?" She asked.

Li Li shook his head.

The children's faces instantly turned sad. Jing had to stifle a giggle. Knowing how prideful her bird is, she didn't expect anything less. But seeing their sad and almost tearful faces after being denied by Li Li was pretty cute.. She decided to give them a little pet of their own.

"Don't be sad kids. While my little owl might not let you pet him, my other bird will." She told them.

Their faces instantly picked back up. They started hopping around her excitedly.

"Where?!"

"I don't see another bird Big Sis!"

"Are you playing a joke on us?" They asked.

"Don't worry I'll show you. But first you all have to close your eyes and turn around." She smiled.

"Is this a game Big Sister?"

"You're not going to trick us and run away right?!"

"Don't trick us Big sis!"

"Ah ah ah! Turn around and close your eyes." She told them with a kind smile.

Although suspicious, the siblings did as she told and Jing got to work. She pulled out one of the recovery pills inside her inventory and inserted into her body. She started refining the pill on fine and soon, on top of her palm laid a small bird. A pure white bird made out of the medicinal ingredients that made up recovery pills hopped around on Jing's palm. An actual sentient pill currently laid in the hands of Jing. The only sentient pill in the entire world laid in the hands of a young girl with no cultivation.

"Alright you can turn around now." She said.

The kids eagerly turned around and saw the small strange bird in her hands. They surrounded her hand with looks of pure innocence and joy radiating off of them. The bird? Recovery bird? Pill bird? Whatever it was, started flying around the three children chirping happily. The kids began playing with the small bird and seemed to forget all about Jing in their moment of happiness. Jing soon wandered away while the children's attention was still taken and continued onto her original goal, getting something to eat.

* * *

A few more minutes of playing with the soft birds, the eldest sibling suddenly remembered they needed to thank the Big Sister for letting them play with her bird. He let his two younger sibling, Xu Meng and Su Meng, keep playing with the bird while he, Dai Meng, went to thank the Big Sister for her kind actions.

Dai Meng saw that the Big Sister wasn't on the bench she was sitting before and was gone! He looked around but still couldn't find any trace of her. He was forced to return back to his two younger siblings. Xu Meng, his younger brother was petting the baby bird they got from the Big Sister.

"What should we name him!?" Su Meng, the baby sister, asked.

"Su Meng… We can't keep him… We have to return him to that Big Sister." Dai Meng said.

Tears immediately threatened to spill out from Su Meng's eyes.

"Didn't you just go look for her though? Where is she?" Xu Meng asked.

"I… couldn't find her…" Dai Meng said slightly embarrassed.

"So that means until we find that Big Sis again, we'll have to take care of little Jii." Xu Meng said with a smirk.

"Yay! You hear that Jii!? You get to play with us longer!" Su Meng cheered happily as she grabbed Jii from her hair and cupped him in her small child hands.

The bird chirped merrily before a small white pellet exited from its bottom and onto Su Meng's palms.

"Ewwww he pooped!" Xu Meng exclaimed

Su Meng shrieked and was about to panic from having poop on her hands but Dai Meng quickly grabbed her hands and calmed her down. He picked up both Jii and his excrement. It seems he recognized something about Jii's dropping. Su Meng was wiping her hands on Xu Meng's shabby clothes and he screamed once he realized what she was doing.

"DON'T WIPE IT ON ME!" He shouted as he moved away from Su Meng.

"I DON'T WANT IT ON MY HANDS!" She screamed back chasing after him, intent on wiping away all the poop residue on her second brother.

Dai Meng ignored his two younger siblings as he stared at both Jii and his feces. He sniffed the bird and found it to have a pleasant smell. It was like a mixture of smells that came from plants and herbs from the forest. The scent of the bird was so pleasant his body even felt a little bit stronger after sniffing it. He would investigate that later but he recognized this pellet. This is a pellet that cultivators use!

'Why would little Jii poop out cultivator pills? Is he not a normal beast? Did that Big Sister really gift us a spirit beast for free?! Is she mad!? If anyone finds out that we have a pet that can poop cultivation pills, we'll be killed before we even know it!' Dai Meng started freaking out.

He was thinking about killing Jii in his hands now to save his siblings from any future troubles but a voice deep in the back of his mind was whispering to him….

'Think of the money….. This could be the treasure you need to change your family's future for ever… An unending supply of money that loves you…. How could you let it get away…?'

Dai Meng was conflicted between his desires and cautious nature. Keeping his family safe but still in their terrible living conditions… or risk threatening their and his own life for a life of riches… Su Meng walked up to him and started wiping her hands on his shirt after not being able to catch her second brother. She saw him in his dazed state and took the chance to get rid of Jii's poop residue from her hands completely.

'I…. Have to think a little bit more about this… For now I'll just take care of him like a normal pet and throw away any pills he makes.' Dai Meng decided.

* * *

Jing is currently seated inside one of the most popular restaurants inside Yellow Jade City, Viridescent Moon. This restaurant was more popular with mortals than cultivators but every now and then cultivators could be seen entering and exiting the building with pleased or neutral faces. And since cultivators are looked upon highly by mortals, they typically follow the trends set by cultivators or followed by cultivators. This is why most businesses try to kiss up to most cultivators. Even getting a single cultivator to buy something from your business will make at the very least 10 mortals buy the same thing that the cultivator bought.

Li Li was perched on Jing's shoulder looking at the menu along with her.

"Fish Head Tofu Soup, Crowned Cow Steak, Leaf-Eating Eagle Eggs… Do you see anything you like Li Li?" Jing asked.

Li Li turned his head topsy turvy as he was deciding on what sounded the most delicious to eat. Eventually he chose from the cultivator's part of the menu and decided on the Gold Shumai. The menu said this was great for cultivators in the early realms. The meat is filled with dense spirit energy and is sure to revitalize any cultivator that eats it and slightly boost their cultivation. But sadly the price was way too high for Jing.

She could pay for it, but all of her current money would be gone trying to pay for it. So she told Li Li to choose something from the mortal side of the menu and he chose the Dragon Cow Steak. Jing decided on Spicy Flying Shrimp with Twilight Rice. Both items added up to a sum of 7,000 yuan and another night in an inn shouldn't leave her completely dry before the sect test tomorrow. And once she passed, she wouldn't have to worry about mortal money anymore anyway! She would be a cultivator once she got inside the sect and learned a cultivation technique.

Jing handed her menu to the waiter after deciding on her and Li Li's choices and were now just sitting and waiting for it to come out. She waited patiently while massaging Li Li's feathers before hearing a loud crash somewhere behind her. She and Li Li looked over and saw that a waiter fell carrying a tower of plates. The plates shattered from his fall and Jing saw a group of people laughing.

'That's the city lord's son..' Jing recognized the red haired handsome youth amidst the young group. Boys and girls of similar ages to Tang Wuyin.

He didn't seem as pleased as his followers because instead of an amused look on his face an irritated one appeared. He got up and kicked the waiter in the side.

"Spoiling my good mood will you mortal?! I could have your entire life destroyed without using a single finger! Do you not know what occasion you just ruined?!" He yelled angrily as he continued to stomp and kick the young waiter.

The young man was whimpering and crying trying to apologize to Wuying but Wuying was having none of it.

"You just ruined the celebratory party of Tang Wuying!"

"The genius that has reached the 5th stage in the Qi Gathering realm!"

"His father owns all of Yellow Jade City and you dare ruin his celebration!?"

*DING*

[Mission available for host!]

[Teach this arrogant young master a lesson!]

[Reward: 1 epic ticket]

Jing's eye brows twitched rapidly.

'Are you insane system?! That epic ticket isn't worth throwing my life away. Even if I somehow managed to defeat or humiliate him, the people behind him can get rid of me without even breaking a sweat! Li Li is pretty strong but not strong enough to make enemies with an entire city force most likely filled with cultivators. No way am I accepting that mission.' Jing declared as her food reached her table.

[Mission Declined!]

[Penalty: Reduced luck in next Gacha.]

She promptly ignored the system and looked at her food with a small smile on her face. It smelled pretty good, which was always a good sign. Li Li's Dragon Cow Steak was around the same size as him and caused Jing to giggle at Li Li's surprised face. Her food didn't look all that special except her twilight rice was a light purple in color. The red spicy colored shrimp and the twilight colored rice had a strange synergy together. It looked rather strange and otherworldly in her eyes but the smell and texture of the two made her stomach rumble in anticipation.

She began digging into her food with Li Li. Jing took small careful bites of her shrimp and rice. She tenderly moved her tongue across the food, tasting it in a delicate and steady manner. Critiquing it with the highest of judgments. After remembering the taste of those heavenly golden berries from before, she was quite scared of never being able to eat regular food again. But it seems she was worried for nothing.

The shrimp and rice tasted well enough. Her taste buds weren't violently rejecting them like she feared, so she started eating happily along with Li Li who was tearing his Dragon Cow Steak into pieces so his small beak could fit the pieces inside his mouth. She ignored the racket behind her with the city lord's son and simply enjoyed her high-class meal.

*ABOUT HALF AN HOUR LATER*

Jing and Li Li finished their first meal of the day and the sun was slowly lowering more and more. Jing paid for their meal and left the restaurant. As she was leaving the restaurant, she noticed a few more vendors setting up but these were a bit different from the regular vendors she's been seeing over town. Manly because these vendors were exclusively for cultivators! They had signs over their booths stating exactly what they were selling but also signs on the front of them that stated prices. Not all of them had price signs and Jing guessed that they were open to some haggling but based on what she was seeing, these vendors only took spirit stones.

Jing pulled out her single spirit stone and chuckled sadly. She couldn't even buy one black rock with her single spirit stone. One of the black stones on a vendor's stall cost 5 spirit stones. She doubted she could haggle with the old man and her looks weren't anything impressive to try and tempt him into lowering the price. Jing left the vendors and started walking towards an inn to sleep tonight.

Amidst her search for a decent inn, she saw a group of people around her age enter into the city.

* * *

"We finally made it to Yellow Jade City!" A youth exclaimed with sweat dripping down his forehead.

The youth had a strange split of black and white long wavy hair that reached to the back of his neck. He was the shortest and most thin of the group.

"We need to hurry and find an inn. The other clans and cultivators are no doubt on their way as well." A beautiful young girl hurried.

This girl had long beautiful hair and a face that could charm many young men. Some would call her a fairy or princess based on looks alone.

"What's the hurry Li? Why don't I take you out on a beautiful dinner tonight? Yellow Jade City is known for its beautiful streets and fantastic restaurants. We can find some place to rest later." A handsome white haired youth suggested.

He was easily the tallest and most charming out of all the males present in the group.

"I need to cultivate tonight. Sorry Brother Song." She bluntly declined while looking elsewhere.

"Alas, you wound me so Li! You gave me that excuse far too many times to count now. A great cultivator would know they should take breaks every now and then or be will suffer stagnation in cultivation." Song warned with exaggerated motions of pain.

"Thank you for your warning Brother Song but I believe I know myself best." She said bluntly before focusing her attention on the shortest and thinnest of the group.

"Brother Fang. How are you feeling about the test tomorrow?" She asked with a smile.

No one noticed as Song's face twisted into a deep ugly hatred after noticing the attention and focus Li gave Fang. Song's life has been nothing but greatness until his uncle one day came home with a child. A child that would threaten to ruin everything that was supposed to be his! A child equal to him in age and status within the Huan Clan. A child that stole the attention of his future bride! And the trash that will be supposedly married to his future bride all thanks to his father losing in a duel to his uncle!

'I will kill you Fang! Sister Li will be my future bride and I will become the patriarch of the Huan Clan after killing your father! Enjoy the attention you get from Sister Li now, but soon everything you took from me will belong to me again… Just wait…' Song swore deep into his heart.

Li Huan went ahead of the group to find a place for them to sleep tonight and Song walked passed Fang, bumping into his shoulder and knocking him down, Song was at a higher cultivation than Fang.

"Watch yourself trash… Sister Li will be mine…" He whispered as he and his "friends" wandered into the city together.

Fang felt a strong force of killing intent coming from Song. A deep shudder of fear came from his heart and a source of anger and rage as well. Song has always bullied Fang every since they were kids. He never understood why Song has hated him for so long but he imagined it had something to do with Sister Li. He didn't feel any particular way towards Sister Li besides as a family member. He didn't understand why Song didn't believe him when he said he had no interest in Sister Li. But telling him that only made him angrier and bully Fang even worse.

But even though Song has always bullied him, he never showed such a strong hatred and killing intent before.

'If I don't quickly cultivate and become stronger than Song, I'll surely lose my life!' Fang thought desperately as he started exploring the vendors' booths in Yellow Jade City.

His adopted father only gave him a few spirit stones for his travels and Fang didn't want to waste it on something that wouldn't help him get stronger than Song who was a whole realm above him! He looked around the vendors looking for anything that could boost his cultivation speed before suddenly feeling something strange in his heart.

He turned around and laid his eyes on a black stone. It was as if the black stone was calling to him somehow… He walked over to the old man's stand and asked him what was this black rock. The old man shrugged his shoulders but said he felt Qi coming from it and decided to grab it. Fang asked how much was it and the old man told him 10 spirit stones.

That was all Fang had! This old man had to be cheating him! But the thumping in his heart and the calling from the black rock was increasing in intensity more and more. It was almost becoming unbearable to the young Fang. He threw all caution to the wind as he gave up all his money to the old man and snatched the black stone for himself. The old man was laughing heartily as he saw the young Fang walking away and tripping over his sandals.

Fang fell and scraped his finger on the pavement. Blood slowly leaked onto the black stone and an intense light started shining from it before suddenly levitating and rushing inside his body. Pain started to wreck and smash his body to all hell. He screamed out on the ground as he felt his bones being destroyed and reconstructed. The last thing he managed to see was Sister Li rushing over to him.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hohoho i wonder if i will ever remember those three kids ever again in the future... I guess we'll seeeee. Do you guys think Jing knew about the capabilities of the pill bird?

I wonder if Jing chose the correct choice in not punishing the city lord's son...

And a few more characters have been introduced! I wonder what cha think about them? lol.. especially Fang.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	7. The Day Of The Sect Recruitment Test!

*THE NEXT MORNING*

Jing woke herself up pretty early this morning. She wasn't exactly sure on when the sect test was taking place today. Just the location. So, after getting herself all dressed up in her mortal clothing that she refined, she decided to finally answer a question that has been plaguing her mind ever since she refined Li Li. She sat on the bed and looked at the peacefully resting owlet sunken comfortably inside the stone pillow. A small smile found itself on her face as she thought how cute he looked.

'After I refined Li Li, there is very little he wasn't capable of. Be it in strength, speed, reflexes, wit, mind, body, and even internal organs. I improved them all to the greatest degree. Making little Li Li the strongest baby owl in the world.' Jing thought before suddenly retracting her statement.

'Wait no.. Since there are cultivators that can destroy mountains and split oceans, there has to be spirit beasts just as strong or even stronger. Maybe little Li Li isn't as all powerful as I'm thinking.' Jing decided.

She looked at Li Li one more time before finally managing to work up the nerves to try what she was thinking.

'If I can upgrade other living things and objects.. I should somehow be able to upgrade myself as well then..' Jing gathered.

Before she attempted this though, she made sure to think of all the refinements she would want for herself. If she left it up to her subconscious then who knows what sort of monster she would be refined into. So, she started listing all the basic upgrades she would want for herself after trying her ability on herself.

'Better skin, brain, heart, hair, lungs…..' Jing started to list off many of the things she would want to improve about herself using the amazing powers of SCP-914.

Before finally attempting to use her powers on herself on very fine.

* * *

…

…

…

...

Jing's mind blanked out. She was no longer inside her room and could see nothing and hear nothing but complete darkness. She couldn't feel any part of her body and couldn't move at all. Fear was slowly permeating into her mind. She couldn't even scream out in terror. She was completely paralyzed… She started to feel as if maybe this was how it was meant to be in one part of her brain. While the other wanted her to continue fighting and screaming. Refusing to assimilate in this state for any longer and gain complete freedom for herself once more. The space she was in was completely dark. And the darkness seemed to give her a sense of familiarity and peace. But Jing didn't want peace. She didn't want to stay here and rest inside this dark space and she refuses to.

As time went on very slowly… Jing could feel once again. Her arms, legs, face, and all!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed in freedom as she got complete control over her body and senses once more.

With her newly regained senses, Jing took a second look at her newfound surroundings and herself. She was completely nude and the place she was in was just as dark as it was when she couldn't see earlier. But there was something else in the space with her. A white floating gaseous sphere. The sphere felt comforting and soothing to her as if it were another part of her and always belonged to her. She walked over to the floating thing and attempted to touch it. The thing passed through her fingers and felt very cold to the touch. But despite this coldness, Jing didn't feel as if it was unpleasant. It was similar to the feeling of getting inside a cold body of water and then slowly getting used to that temperature and enjoying the body of water in all.

Much different from the feeling from earlier that wanted to whisk Jing off into an endless and tranquil sleep. She started to think.

'Could I use my ability here as well?'

She tried to touch the wispy object again and refine it using SCP-914 but before she could reach it, her mind was suddenly taken away.

* * *

Jing was back inside her room at the inn inside Yellow Jade City. Li Li was standing on her thigh staring deep into her eyes. Jing's brain felt as if it just got done being scrambled and shaken up. She grabbed her head as her eyes tried to focus on Li Li staring at her.

"Whoa… I'm back… That was strange… but I feel…. better… better than before…" She mumbled as she took off her glasses.

The clarity and improved focus in her eyes nearly caused her to gasp. She could finally see! She hurried over to the window and looked outside into the streets below.

"I can see!" She exclaimed in a surprising voice that finally matched her young teenaged age.

She started bouncing all over the room squealing in joy at all the new things she could feel, hear, see, and more.

Li Li flew onto his pillow, confused as ever about what's happening to his mom. A few moments ago, she was just staring into the wall without moving or breathing in the slightest. She didn't even blink! Li Li did everything he could to wake her or make her move again but nothing worked! He couldn't even hear her heart beating a few moments ago. It was as if she suddenly died and everything stopped working. But Li Li knew that it was impossible for this to happen naturally. It was all too quick and her body wasn't reacting like a dead body should. He should know when she spent most of yesterday morning teaching him about the human body and more.

But then all of a sudden, she started changing in front of him. The first thing that went was her skin. It changed from its regular appearance into something much smoother and amazing. It was as if her light brown skin decided to become perfectly flawless. Along with the rest of her body! Her skin was the first thing Li Li noticed that started changing, the next was her hair, and then her insides! Li Li could hear the sounds of his mother's innards changing and moving around as well.

He didn't understand in the slightest what was happening to his mom and frankly didn't care once he heard her heart beating up again. He was so happy she was back to normal that it didn't matter what happened to her before. So, he watched as his mother expressed happiness and joy in something other than causing other humans pain and suffering. He didn't understand why she was so happy but he felt just as happy just because she was and started flying around chirping and whistling in jubilation as well.

"Li Li! You're happy for Mama's rebirth as well!? You're the greatest son a mother could have!" She hugged him tightly.

It wouldn't be until 5 or 10 minutes later that Jing would finally settle down and take in her refined self. She looked no differently outwardly due to her desire on keeping her plain appearance besides her very smooth skin and beautiful dull black hair that reached a little bit pass her neck. But there was far more hidden within her basic and small figure. And if she was being honest, she was a little excited on finding out just how much better she became. If she was refined to the specifications she made before she upgraded herself, then she believed she had almost nothing to fear among cultivators in the Qi Gathering realm.

She's already capable of seeing a small group of ants traveling along a tree branch over hundreds of meters away from her window and her hearing was nothing to scoff at either. She could hear everyone inside this entire building if she wanted to, but thankfully she could filter certain sounds out pass a certain distance from her.

* * *

"Well Li Li. It's time we take our first step in becoming cultivators. Let's go pass that test!" Jing said confidently.

"Hoo!" Li Li responded even though he has already reached the first stage in cultivation for spirit beasts.

The two left the inn together and Jing finally realized that maybe this recruitment test wasn't as simple as she thought. The streets were littered with people all over. People of all shapes, sizes, ages, and even colors! There were various groups wearing green clothing, red, blue, yellow, purple, and more! From what her ears could pick up, these were the many different cultivation clans that sent their youth to try and be accepted into the Golden Serpent Sect. These youths were typically dressed in their clan's symbols. And most of the cultivators she saw were spending spirit stones to purchase many different items from the vendors she saw setting up yesterday. Spirit beast eggs, strange pieces of paper, swords and sabres, colorful ores, and more!

The rest were either wandering cultivators that wanted to join a highly famed sect or normal mortals just like Jing and wanted to see if they had what it takes to become a cultivator and become more than just mortals. It didn't need to be said that a majority of mortals typically wouldn't try to become cultivators through sect recruitment tests. This was because not even cultivators themselves were free from death when trying to get accepted into a sect. Most sects that decided on recruiting new people to enter their sects typically have to pass a dangerous and life-threatening activity before making it in and many were sure that the Golden Serpent Sect was no different.

There was plenty of gossip about what the Golden Serpent Sect was planning on doing for their test this time around but no one knew anything concrete. Some said they would have their talents measured and if you passed a certain measurement, then you would get in. Some said they would have to go through a physical gauntlet to show off their physical prowess to get inside. Others said they would be forced to meditate and see how much potential they have in sensing Qi based on how much Qi they could sense.

All in all, none of this helped Jing figure out exactly what to expect up ahead. So, she waited in the very very long line of people that stretched a few blocks ahead towards where the members of the Golden Serpent Sect were waiting. With her enhanced sight she could see three important figures with a group of youth behind them. They were wearing a white robe with golden streaks running down them. A golden serpent was laying bare on the front of the robe in an S shape. The three figures could be seen in a square formation laying down small pieces of paper with one of the youth that came along with them. The first of the 3 figures was an elderly man. He had a long white beard and a wrinkly face like any old grandpa. The second figure was a buff muscular middle-aged man. His muscles seemed strong enough to frighten bears and lions without problems. And the last figure was much younger than the other two if we were comparing looks alone. She had the face of a young adult with the appearance of a beautiful woman, capable of toppling kingdoms and empires with just her face alone.

The pieces of paper that they laid down suddenly flashed with a bright light before shooting out a purple gas. The purple gas rose a few meters into the air before forming itself into a square. The pieces of paper burned up in a purple flame after the gas shaped itself. One of the old guys walked into the gas and disappeared inside of it, confusing Jing even more. He then popped out a few seconds later and nodded to the other two before they started the recruitment process in whole. Jing saw as they motioned the waiting people to enter inside the purple gas.

Waves of excitement and nervousness splashed over the long line of people. No one knew exactly what laid inside that purple gas. Apparently it was called a formation, from what Jing gathered. A formation is made up of talismans, which was the pieces of paper she saw, and could hold certain techniques or Qi inside them to do many different things. One of the things she heard they could do was form a Qi barrier and block off attacks, form a formation that could make anything step inside it be poisoned by an invisible gas, or even kill you by gathering lightning Qi from the sky and shooting it towards anyone who stepped inside the formation.

Jing didn't know what lightning Qi was or that there was something besides just Qi itself. She chose to file that information for later when she joins the sect and ask more questions there. But for now, she'll just stay in line and wait until it was her turn to go through that purple gas.

* * *

'Tang Wuying… I swear to the heavens as Xun Liuxian that I will destroy everything you ever loved and owned… But first… I have to get stronger… And the Golden Serpent Sect… is my first step to gaining the power needed to kill you and your entire ancestry…' A demonical handsome youth vowed as he glared in the direction of the red-headed striking youth surrounded by those who nearly ended his life. It was taking his all to not lunge at him and eviscerate them all into pieces.

With dark purple streaks in his hair and a lean body with densely packed muscles hidden underneath, this boy has completely transformed himself from what he looked like 2-3 days ago. Every breath he took seemed to radiate an ancient power and force that didn't match his age in the slightest. His entire body was slowly bathing in that force every so slightly, every time he breathed, becoming infinitesimally stronger by the second.

Tang Wuying wasn't aware that someone was currently glaring holes into his back and was instead focused on something else entirely. The beautiful fair-skinned icy beauty in front of him. She was Xiao Hong! A prodigy on the same level as himself and has even unlocked a part of her ancient bloodline! The Ice Giant bloodline was a feared bloodline amongst cultivators due to their bloody and terrible history. Most cultivators that managed to live long enough with that bloodline would be capable of toppling kingdoms and eradicating sects with just a wave of their palm. Historic accounts of those cultivators always say that they leave a frozen wasteland behind them wherever they go.

And a gorgeous beauty such as her that had an astonishing potential like that, was made for someone like him! A rich, attractive, and talented young man with the bloodline of the Titanic Tortoise. Sure he hasn't unlocked even the tiniest portion of his bloodline but that doesn't mean he won't in the future! His Titanic Tortoise bloodline is a powerful and ancient one that has had numerous historical accounts across the world. Those with his bloodline have undying bodies that can't be harmed through any means once one reaches a certain cultivation. Even if their bodies were reduced to a pile of blood, they would come back even tougher! Even if their hearts were crushed into dust and skulls flattened into the dirt, they would come back with even stronger hearts and skulls! Now what a perfect couple made by the heavens would they be once they got together!

And Tang plans on courting her with all his heart and soul! For she is the only woman that is good enough for him!

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright Brother Fang…?" Li, from the Huan clan, asked worriedly.

"Yes Sister Li. I'm perfectly fine. You've asked this 5 times now. I feel even better than before if I'm to be honest." Fang answered looking completely different compared to how he looked yesterday.

He seemed to have grown quite a bit last night after passing out on the street. He now reached a little bit taller than Song in height and also a few other additions. His body seemingly grew muscles over night but not to the point where his clan's robes were stretched to contain them. His face was sharper and more lean and handsome compared to yesterday. And a strange black ring could be seen resting quite snugly on his right index finger.

Song couldn't hide his shock and envy after Fang's miraculous transformation and knew that he must have encountered some treasure or item that changed a person so much. The trash even dared to look down on him! He just had to find out what it was and steal it from Fang's body, dead or alive….

* * *

Author's Note!

Hoho it seems some of you were extra smart and managed to guess that YES Jing is capable of upgrading herself through SCP-914! Now you'll just have to wait and see exactly what other kind of changes have she made that she didn't reveal already!

A bit more world building was introduced here along with some old characters and some new ones!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	8. Golden Serpent's Test!

The day has finally come for Yellow Jade City. The Golden Serpent Sect's recruitment test only happens once every 5 years and every year mortals and cultivators alike get just as excited for this event. It would be nearly impossible to find anyone not in high spirits for this.

Business was booming from the event and the revenue gained for the city was higher than it has ever been before. This is one of the reasons why mortals are so ecstatic when the Golden Serpent Sect comes to the city. People were lined up on the streets just to watch people go up to take the test. Some of them were families who were encouraging their children that were in line and were wishing for them to pass and bring good fortune, riches, and protection to their families.

This was the first time Jing saw this side of Yellow Jade City and was properly shocked. Even though it has only been about 2 or 3 days since she's been here, she has never seen the city so lively, festive, and joyous. It was a completely different atmosphere from how it is usually. And if she were to be honest, deep down she felt like this situation would be so much more entertaining if this festival was somehow ruined and turned into complete chaos.

Why did she feel that sort of way? She didn't know but felt like there was more to her than she even knew herself. Just what kind of person was she?

Jing was finally about to enter inside the purple smoke with Li Li and meet face to face with the three examiners from the sect. Jing hoped that she would feel something once she met them up close, but they didn't give off any special feeling. They just seemed like really conceited adults. No special feeling in the air around them that made you think twice about trying something or "Wow! So amazing!" She was slightly disappointed but didn't let it show on her face. She figured that it was probably because they weren't trying to be intimidating or awe inspiring at the moment.

Jing entered through the formation made by the four talismans and entered inside a completely different realm. Inside the formation was a giant white space filled to the brim with cultivators and mortals alike. Thousands of eyes laid on her before quickly looking away in disinterest or switching to look at Li Li.

"A mortal beast master? Interesting…"

"She probably found it in the forest and raised it since young."

"But it's in the first realm! It has to have killed a spirit beast to do that!"

"Yeah… and she doesn't look wealthy or beautiful enough to have food for spirit beasts to eat on the regular."

Jing calmly walked to the side and out of view from the majority of people as she waited in the sea of people as well. To pass the time, she stood around others and listened to everyone.

* * *

"Did you know that Gong Jun is here as well?!"

"The Jun clan's prodigy!? The one that's been said to have reached the seventh stage and can already use qi through his blade?!"

"The Jun Clan that is said to have connections to the royal family!?"

"I also heard that he's engaged to Liu Lan! The super beautiful princess of the Jianhong kingdom! She's reached the sixth stage and already has unlocked a part of her royal bloodline!"

"WHAT!? The famous bloodline of the Blazing Tyrant!? The man that has been said to have turned entire countries into ash!?"

"WELL NO! The bloodline is actually from the race of ancient people called the Firebringers. It's said that the royal family made that rumor of the Blazing Tyrant being the source of their bloodline because it sounded better."

"That's kind of embarrassing."

"Yeah but don't let any members of the royal family hear you say that to their faces or you can kiss your entire family lineage goodbye."

"Oh okay. But seriously Gong Jun and Liu Lan huh…"

"The gifted are truly blessed…"

"It's a match made in heaven. I guess they do deserve each other after all with their backgrounds and appearances."

"Did you guys also hear that the city lord's son is also here?"

"Yeah! He's a 5th stage Qi Gatherer at the age of 14!"

"Isn't he even more talented than Gong Jun then!? Gong Jun is 17 years old and at the seventh stage! "

"I don't know… But don't let either of them hear you comparing them or you can consider your life forfeit!"

"Isn't that Tang Wuying walking up to Gong Jun now!?"

"What!? No way! Let me see!"

* * *

A large majority of the crowd circled around the two devilishly handsome youths. One with wild fiery red hair and the other with calm serene blue flowing hair. Gong Jun stood a whole head above Tang Wuying due to his age but Wuying's confidence didn't make it seem as if he was being looked down on at all. It was as if these two were equals. In Tang Wuying's eyes of course. Gong Jun had an amused sneer on his face as he looked down on the boy.

Tang Wuying didn't like that in the slightest. He was brought up being told he was the best and was treated just as such. When he heard that someone could possibly be better than him, the treasured son of the heavens, he couldn't believe it. So, he went over to see for himself just how much he matched up to Gong Jun. Tang Wuying already knew of the rumors of the Jun's family genius but rumors were simply rumors weren't they?

Sweat visibly ran down the face of Tang Wuying once he felt the dense and powerful qi emanating from Gong Jun's body. A certain number of cultivators and mortals merely fainted from coming in contact with that thick qi and Wuying was having trouble keeping himself together. Even Jing herself felt her knees go wobbly after wanting to feel this aura for herself. Excitement filled Jing's body as she thought about conquering and bringing this strong prodigy to his knees and enslaving him for herself. Even after her own refinement, she didn't think it would be so easy to defeat Gong Jun. His qi was so overwhelming, Jing was forced to step away or she'd ruin her outfit.

'He's merely two stages higher than me! There can't be such a gulf between us! It's impossible! Is his cultivation method truly that superior?! It has to be higher than the stellar ranked cultivation technique I've been using!' Wuying cursed deep in his heart with envy.

The sneer on Gong Jun's face seemed to be increasing as he saw Wuying getting weaker and weaker from his aura. Wuying's body was shaking in both rage and fear, making him even more outraged. With so many people watching him, there's no way he can back down now. Especially with his future wife, Xiao Hong, staring as well. Wuying glared into Jun's amused eyes and gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

"This isn't over Gong Jun! You may have had more resources and a higher age than me… But it won't be like this forever! Once I prove my talent to the Golden Serpent Sect, they'll reward me with resources great enough to match against your clan's! I'll challenge you to a proper duel in three months time!" Wuying swore before storming off.

*DING*

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Help the arrogant young master regain some face! Train Tang Wuying till he's capable of fighting evenly with Gong Jun or surpassing him in strength! Or weaken Tang Wuying by the time of the duel that he loses all popularity and credibility.]**

**[Rewards: Group tab is unlocked, martial technique: Snake Fist, 3 rare tickets.]**

Jing was slightly confused about this sudden mission. Not too long ago the system wanted her to teach Wuying a lesson, but now it wants her to aid him? Jing didn't understand what angle the system was playing at by trying to manipulate her with these mission quests, but it was doing a fairly good job at targeting her greed for power. She'll have to do some planning and a lot of thinking, but for now she plans on somehow passing this mission.

A wicked and purple haired youth could be seen delighted after seeing the embarrassment of Tang Wuying.

"I'll be waiting." Jun said with an entertained look on his face before turning around and looking towards the entrance of the white room.

* * *

One of the elders from outside walked inside. No one but a few cultivators managed to notice him entering. He realized that not many noticed him walk inside and he coughed into his hand.

That cough seemed to have echoed throughout the entire room and into the bodies of everyone. Jing felt a chill enter her heart. That chill told her to turn around immediately or get away as fast as she could. She chose the former and saw the old man examiner from the sect. That feeling he sent through her completely betrayed his innocent wise old man look. Jing felt like this old man could erase her without even looking in her direction.

Jing's breathing began to get slightly heavy.

'So these are cultivators... I have much to look forward to in the future….' She said with a devilish smile hidden on her face.

"I'd like to explain the first portion of the test. Please listen up." The old man announced.

"You all will soon enter inside a dangerous realm. Your only goal will be to survive. Farewell." He said as he pulled out a talisman from his robe and had it ignite in between his fingers.

"What do you-"

All the candidates vanished from the room and the only one remaining was the elder. Two more figures entered inside the white plane and stood next to the first elder.

"Did you notice any good ones Elder Chang?"

"Hmm...Perhaps…" He responds mysteriously.

"None for me so far. Maybe I'll find someone interesting during the test." The muscular elder says.

"I see. We'll let's see how they do." The female elder said as she threw a talisman on the floor.

The talisman ignited and the floor shifted into a bird's eye view of the testing area.

* * *

Jing suddenly found herself surrounded by thick trees, colorful vegetation, and buzzing insects all around. She felt the hot and humid air clinging to her skin. A displeased expression appeared on her face as she looked up into the sky and didn't notice anything unusual from the place she was transported to.

*SMACK*

Except the large number of bugs trying to blemish and eat away at her skin. Jing was about to start exploring before suddenly being mentally assaulted.

*DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING*

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Survive! Don't get killed during the test!]**

**[Rewards: 3 rare tickets, 100,000 yuan, 5 spirit stones]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Gain one or more allies during the test!]**

**[Rewards: Allies tab will be unlocked in system's menu.]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Steal 20 items from other competitors! Additional rewards will be given every 10+ more items stolen after mission goal has been reached.]**

**[Rewards: Storage ring, ?]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Kill over 500 competitors during the test!]**

**[Rewards: Title: Rising Prodigy of Death, Legendary ticket, 1 High-tiered spirit stone, Utility martial technique: 9 Revolving Suns]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Pass the Golden Serpent Sect's test and become an official disciple! Additional rewards may be given depending on how well you stood out amongst the competition.]**

**[Rewards: Basic Cultivation book, ?]**

'This test is a lot more important than I figured if the system is willing to give me this many missions right at the start. Something big has to be happening for the system to want me to be accepted in this sect this badly..' Jing thought as she looked over the missions once more.

"I guess I'll aim for the easiest one first.. Li Li. We're going to get our first 'ally'" She smiled before suddenly hearing a scream a few distances away from her.

"There he is…."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bad news guys... I'm going to have to start shortening the chapters or delay the release of them because i've recently started my sophomore year in college and it is eating up a lot of my free time that I usually use to write. So, i plan on shortening the chapter length rather than dragging it days on end before finally releasing them.

So yeah just a heads up for the future: shorter chapter lengths.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	9. Our First Ally is a Fatty!

After hearing the high-pitched feminine scream, Jing started moving towards her first ally. Jing got on top of the trees and started jumping from tree branch to tree branch. With her newly refined body, she could easily focus in to where the sound is coming from. So, reaching the source of the screaming didn't take long.

Jing looked down and saw a large boy running for his life from a dangerous looking boar. The chubby boy was breathing roughly as he ran with all his might. The sweat coming off from every part of his body and the tears running down his face proved that he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.

"Please...! Anyone...! Help me!" The boy yelled before tripping over a tree root and rolling on the ground.

The boy realized that he's was going to be gored by this pig and his pathetic little life would end so tragically so. He succumbed to fate. His muscles were pushed farther than he's ever pushed them before and he could not move a single inch even getting air into his lungs was painful right now. The boy closed his eyes as the bloodthirsty boar was about to gore him. His only regret was not being able to find a gentle cute girlfriend before he died.

"SQUEEEEEEEEELLLLL" A high-pitched cry erupted from the pig.

Just before the cow-sized boar could spear the fatty, Jing cracked her whip towards its robust leg and made it trip. It violently crashed on the ground squealing in pain as she sliced a chunk of its fat off next. She soon decapitated it with her whip and stood in front of the fat boy currently peeking through his fingers at his savior.

"MY SAVIOR! I GIVE YOU ALL MY THANKS- GUK!" A whip wrapped around his thick throat as Jing stared into his eyes.

The boy felt as if he's just been captured by a demonic empress. The look in her eyes that made him feel as if she was looking at mere trash. Why him!? All he wanted was to become a famous cultivator and live a lavish free life! He could only curse his luck. Out of the fryer and into the frying pan. Tears of misfortune ran down his chubby cheeks as he gave up all hope of ever fulfilling his dreams.

"Pig. Become my slave or die." Jing commanded with a fierce tone, betraying her completely plain and weak appearance.

The whip was getting tighter and tighter around his throat. This demoness really wasn't kidding around! He will really die if he doesn't become her slave! He couldn't even cause the whip to budge as he tried to pry it from his throat.

"I submit...! I will follow you to the grave empress! Pleas-" The whip tightened itself to the point where he couldn't speak any further before suddenly feeling the whip release itself from his neck.

He started coughing a few times once he was released. Then he began to greedily suck up the air while rubbing his sore throat. The whip left a defined red mark around his neck and he could feel it with his chunky fingers. The boy began to think whether living as the slave of a demon is better than dying as a just innocent youth. The world of cultivation is truly cruel and unjust... His first experience out into the real world and he's already enslaved. Just what will he tell his parents when he sees them? Will he ever get to see his parents again?

'I hope my little sister will marry a good man. All the bad luck I have in my life I wish for my family to have only good luck.'

The boy looked at Jing to fully take in her appearance. At first glance she looked like an unimpressive girl even a bit ugly if he would say so himself. If her skin was lighter, she would look a bit better but after experiencing what she just put him through, he couldn't look at her any other way besides an actual demon. Jing looked at him with a sinister smile before kicking him across the face and launching him away.

Jing grabbed a piece of bark and placed her palm on the corpse of the boar before sucking the two into herself and refining them. She merged the boar corpse and the circular piece of bark together into forming a small shield. The shield exited from her chest after being refined on fine and Jing took in its appearance.

The shield had two small tusks on the front that resembles small spikes, it looked as if it was a shield made of bones rather than an actual shield, and had a small circular indent around the shield face. Jing threw the shield over to the fatty along with 2 recovery pills. He wouldn't be any use to her the way he is now. With that shield, he should be able to live a bit longer to prove his worth. Why just a shield and not a sword or spear? Because Jing felt like it would be crueler to just give him a shield by itself. She also isn't a fan of the swords she's seen here so far. If she was to ever make a sword, she would make it interesting.

"Slave. Heal yourself up and use that shield or die." She told him.

He didn't question why she kicked him across face. How could he expect any common sense from a demoness? Who knows what type of teachings they have in the demon realm? He must have done something wrong to anger her without knowing. He looked up to the heavens to bless him on his journey with this demoness. He doesn't believe his body will be able to last long on this path.

He swallowed the two recovery pills. The pills tastelessly dissolved as soon as they touched his tongue and began healing his body at an accelerated rate. He slipped his hand through the strap and held it up to get a feel for it.

"Thank you empress for your kindness! This one known as Ai Bing will always remember your grace!" He quickly spat out, lest he look ungrateful and gets physically abused once more.

A small smile appeared on Jing's face before she turned around and started walking. He's learning.

**[Mission Completed!]**

**[Gained access to the Ally tab!]**

Jing pulled up the system's menu and went into the Ally tab. The only one present was her new slave. She guessed that Li Li didn't count as an ally for some reason. Maybe it was because he was an animal. Jing couldn't know for sure. So, she mentally chose her slave's name and it pulled up a screen.

**[Name: Ai Bing]**

**[Rank: Qi Gathering 2]**

**[Occupation: None]**

**[Techniques: Flattening Gorilla Palm]**

**[Cultivation Method: Book of Qi]**

**[Loyalty: 30% (Scared to death of you but is also curious about your origins.)]**

'Almost completely worthless. I'm curious about that technique though.' Jing thought to herself.

Jing figured that the technique Bing had was a martial technique. These are things only useful to cultivators and can only be acquired by cultivators. Jing saw a few martial books with the vendors but with her measly one spirit stone she couldn't even think about purchasing it. So, she gave up on it and decided to wait until she got accepted into the sect before starting on her path to cultivation. It isn't like becoming a cultivator now is any different from becoming one later.

Haste becomes waste and Jing has no reason to hurry herself. She's not in any danger nor does she have any enemies. So, for now she plans to complete a few of the missions the system set for her, get some use out of this slave, and gain information. And luckily, she can solve all three without bringing much attention to herself.

Jing, Ai Bing, and Li Li traveled through the thick jungle together. Bing taking the lead with his shield and Jing and Li Li calmly walking behind him. Bing's senses were being stretched taut as he was forced to be on the lookout for any beasts or cultivators wanting to ambush them. The round boy was constantly looking around with sweat dripping down his forehead. Every single noise was a possible attack for Bing. His shield was moving in all directions as he continued to freak out at every single thing inside the jungle despite them not encountering anything besides some bugs and the pig from earlier.

Jing heard Li Li hoo into her ear, signaling her to look in a certain direction with his talon. Jing focused her senses and realized what Li Li was pointing out.

"Head east." Jing commanded.

Bing jumped at the sound of her voice but didn't question her. He simply did as he was told and continued to lead the way forward. As they kept going, Bing eventually heard some shouting. He looked back to see what Jing wanted him to do.

"Make sure to steal everything they have. I'll be watching." Jing told him before kicking him in the chest towards the group and hiding atop a tree to watch the situation.

* * *

"Who the hell is this!? A sneak attack!?"

"No! Look he was attacked by something!"

"Yeah right! You tried to mount a sneak attack on us to get rid of the competition! KILL THEM!"

"You want to kill us!? WE'LL KILL YOU FIRST!"

Ai Bing slid across the jungle floor till he found himself in the middle of both groups. He was dazed from his empress's kick and had trouble catching his breath. He didn't think that with such a frail and meek physique she was able to make him fly so far! He's not light in any sense of the word!

'She's definitely has to be from a famous clan! There's no way someone so tyrannical and powerful could ever stay low key!' Bing thought before seeing a dangerous shine above his eyes.

'A sword!? Someone's trying to kill me!? I can't die without having a single wife!' He screamed inwardly.

Ai Bing panicked and quickly brought up his shield to protect him from the blade. He heard a sharp scraping sound, as the blade slashed off and couldn't penetrate his shield. A relieved grin accidentally found itself on his face after he realized he wasn't dead.

"YOU'RE MOCKING ME YOU FATTY!? I was originally going to give you a painless death, but now you don't deserve anything of the sort. Curse your own fate for being so arrogant." The swordsman cultivator began hacking at Ai Bing.

Ai Bing quickly rolled to the side to dodge the crazed cultivator, inadvertently knocking over two more swordsmen who were fighting by rolling into their legs.

"Ah I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" His apology was cut short as the two men swore to flay his flesh with their swords and feed it to dogs.

Not to soon after, the three men began chopping and slashing towards Ai Bing. In his fright, he pulled up his shield and blocked each slash from all the men in front of him. He couldn't afford to close his eyes in fear. He couldn't afford to block out the insults, threats, and sounds of combat around him. If he doesn't give his everything, his poor little life will come to an end right here!

His eyes watched exactly where each of the swords were headed. It was as if the world was slowed down for Bing. He could feel his Qi circulating throughout his body, improving his strength and senses as the fight goes on. Is he going to have a breakthrough in the middle of a fight? Is he secretly a genius?

"I GOT YOU NOW FATTY! Taste my Crushing Wind Slash!" One of the cultivators managed to charge enough Qi in his body to temporarily infuse it into his blade while Bing was distracted.

He slashed down from above with his blade and Bing could barely react in time. He was forced to defend directly above or risk getting sliced in half! He blocked the technique with his shield and was now contesting in strength with the swordsman.

"What kind of shield is that...? It doesn't even split from my sword martial arts!?" His attacker asked in disbelief.

"Haha thanks for the distraction! Actually, we have him now!"

"Aren't you ashamed to gang up on a single Qi Gatherer on the second stage!? I never did anything to offend you this badly!" Bing reasoned.

"This is how the world works fatty! Next time hope to reincarnate into a more fortunate life! Now die!"

The other two cultivators used this chance to plunge their swords right into Bing's big stomach. Bing's eyes widened once he realized the situation, he was in. He consciously surged his Qi to flow through his body even faster, making him slightly stronger than before. Normally he wouldn't do something as dangerous as this. No cultivator would do such a thing unless they were in dire straits.

Increasing the speed of the Qi flowing throughout his body is normally only used when a cultivator is breaking to the next realm. The increased speed will help ram against the barrier to the next level of cultivation and eventually break through it. But Bing is using his Qi to make his body stronger instead, wasting the Qi he's built up so far and will soon be left without any Qi in reserves to continue fighting.

Ai Bing used his increase in strength to shove the first swordsman's sword to the side before quickly bringing his shield to defend his stomach. The other two cultivators' blades couldn't pierce through his shield and he knocked those two swords down into the dirt. The two swordsmen's blades were stuck in the ground as Bing ran straight towards them with his shield. If he didn't look so messy and pathetic, one could say he even looked like a majestic charging rhino.

The two swordsmen refused to let go of their weapons and suffered the price for looking down on a fellow cultivator. Bing might not look like your typical cultivator but his strength was no lesser than any other Qi Gatherer of the 2nd stage. He had enough strength to contest with a snow bear! Ai Bing used his shield and bashed the first guy in the face, breaking his nose and instantly knocking him out. The second swordsmen just smirked at how weak the other guy was and calmly tried to dodge Bing's attack for him. Unfortunately, this Bing wasn't the same Bing from earlier. This Bing was using all the qi he had to strengthen himself, increasing his power, speed, and toughness.

Ai Bing slugged his shield into the second swordsman's jaw, completely shattering it and knocking the cultivator unconscious. Ai Bing's breathing was haggard, sweat covered his entire body, his eyes seemed to faze in and out. He looked as if he was an ancient bull preparing to trample and spear everyone that entered his sights. Which so happened to be the third swordsman who attempted to kill him with his martial technique.

The third swordsman saw what happened to the other two and quickly dropped his sword and put his hands up.

"I SURRENDER!"

Ai Bing stared at him with eyes that made the cultivator think he was being looked at as nothing but prey. His body began to shake in fear of the death coming for him.

"I'LL GIVE YOU ALL I HAVE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" He pleaded as he pulled out multiple pills, a mortal-ranked sword martial art, and his own sword that he tried to kill Bing with earlier.

Bing slowly walked over to the surrendering cultivator and swiped all his offerings and ate a few of the recovery pills and Qi pills, bringing him back to mostly perfect health. The swordsman ran away after he took his items and Ai Bing let out a breathe of relief. Taking from others made him feel powerful... He's never been the one in the position of power before and it was such a new experience. An experience he wouldn't mind getting used to..

Ai Bing looked over at the remaining fighters with a more confident and cockier look in his eyes. This shield was a lot tougher than he thought. Maybe it is the time for the rise of the hidden genius Ai Bing! He was started to charge into the group of fighting cultivators like a piggy rushing to a feast.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yep! We got the cliche fatty friend in this bitch! But this fatty will be a bit different from the rest! He won't be discarded once the mc gets stronger and he will actually have a purpose besides being trouble to the mc or being a source of information.

Hey guys! I'm gonna get started back on this book because i hastily put it out before it was ready. I've decided to change the way i write stories after gaining much experience with my first 3. So this is how it will work. I'll write a bunch of chapters ahead of time and then slowly start to release them like 2 per week or something like that or just actually finish the book and then start releasing it like normal people do.

And I'M BACK! I have a bunch of other story ideas lined up after this one. None of them are fully complete story-wise but gimmick wise, They are the cream of the crop. I'll be focusing on this story solely though until it is completed. After that i'll probably release some slice-of-life or fun little short stories i've thought of.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	10. The Tragic End Of The Huan Prodigies

Jing was looking over her new slave with a faint surprised look in her eyes. She didn't expect him to be such a menace. After narrowly surviving the 3 cultivators, something inside him changed it seems. Or maybe he was just too weak to really show his strength before. But with the shield she made, his confidence rose to levels she was sure he didn't even know were possible. She originally thought she would have to step in and save him before he died with her shield but here he was taking on a group of cultivators with just a shield. At first it was basically a group fight between 2 groups but after seeing him knock out and severely injure more and more cultivators, everyone decided to team up and eliminate him. If he wasn't careful, Jing might have to step in and save him. He is proving to be useful so far so, she doesn't mind saving him this once if the situation calls for it.

She looked on as he was surrounded on all sides by the cultivators.

"Don't you bastards have any honor?! Ganging up on a 2nd level Qi Gatherer! How shameless can you get!?" Bing shouted indignantly.

They actually couldn't reply after taking a look at themselves surrounding this one boy at the 2nd level. But they knew it was too dangerous to leave competition as monstrous as this fatty alive after what they've done to him. There is no going back now. Either they kill him or get taken out by him. There are no other options.

"Fine then you cowards! If I'm going down, I'm taking you bastards with me!" He charged like a bull towards the person closest to him.

The cultivator saw what happened to those that fell victim to this fatty's charge beforehand. They were either overpowered and trampled under his feet or bashed to death with his shield. He wasn't going to turn out like them so, he ran. He ran away faster than Bing could run and left everyone behind as he secured his life. This caused the other cultivators who were scared to fight against Ai Bing to see a way out. A few others started to run away as well, leaving Ai Bing alone with 4 cultivators who were just as confused as him before quickly hightailing it out of there as well.

"I WILL REMEMBER THE FACES OF EVERYONE WHO ATTACKED ME! I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN AT THE SECT AND DEAL WITH YOU THERE!" Ai Bing roared before all his exhaustion hit him at once. He promptly fell over and fainted.

No matter how many recovery pills and qi pills he used to heal himself and refuel his qi. No person can go on with just adrenaline and qi alone. They are still human after all. Jing finally exited her watching place and began taking the items of those that were defeated by Ai Bing. Li Li flew on top of Bing's body and started taking out the items he pocketed.

"This mission wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. But maybe I got lucky that none of them were above the 4th level. Who knows if anyone else decided to team up with others? I only did it because of the mission." Jing shrugged her shoulders before hearing a familiar ding.

[**Mission Completed!]**

**[Gained Storage Ring]**

Jing pulled out the storage ring from her inventory and briefly thought about selling it to the system. She would be able to buy multiple storage rings in the future if she did so but, she was sure there was much to gain right now that she wouldn't be able to carry. She also didn't know what type of absurd pricing the system might set to it either. She dismissed the thought of selling it as she tied her hair in a ponytail with the ring, making it hard to take notice of. She could always sell it later. She didn't need to do it now. She then put all the items of the fallen cultivators inside it, gaining some mediocre but bountiful loot.

Jing walked over to the peacefully sleeping Ai Bing. Slob was slowly falling from the side his mouth and he had a stupid smile on his face. His creamy white skin and short figure made him look like a dumpling. His light blue hair was strange though. But then again this wasn't the first time she's seen someone with colored hair. So, she didn't think much of it as she wrapped her whip around Bing's leg and started dragging him along the jungle's floor without any issue. With her refined body, his weight wasn't anything to her.

As they journeyed through the jungle, Jing saw many different types of plants and herbs. She didn't have the slightest clue on what type of ingredients they were but since she saw beasts and spirit beasts either fighting over it or defending it, she decided to take as much as she could. Li Li also had a greedy look in his eyes whenever he spotted the herbs. She didn't think the little gourmet was interested in anything but meat.

Jing felt that if these herbs were valuable then Li Li could be her little treasure detector. Jing killed any beasts that dared attack her as she was pilfering the plants. Bing was still sleeping peacefully even though he had numerous bugs, mud, and dirt all over him. She guessed he really did give everything he had to survive back there. If he managed to not let any of them get away, Jing was even thinking of rewarding him.

She did feel that he did well enough though. While she was thinking this, Li Li pointed towards another direction with his talon. Jing went that way and soon after discovered a dark hole in the ground. There were human foot steps outside the hole, so she imagined a few cultivators already went inside to investigate as well. She had no reason to not go in herself and was about to head straight down into the mysterious tunnel but she felt Li Li shaking on her shoulder.

"Are you scared Li Li?" Jing asked a little bit surprised.

Li Li nodded and Jing took him off her shoulder and hugged him.

"Don't worry. The dark isn't as scary as it seems. There's nothing in the dark that can hurt you with me here anyway. I'll protect you." Jing whispered into his ear while holding him across her chest.

Li Li's body stopped shaking as he gave in to his mother's warm embrace and the trio headed down inside the dark tunnel. Jing's hair suddenly started to lengthen and wrap around the whip's handle. Her hair dragged along Bing as she held Li Li in her hands. Thanks to her refinement, Jing was capable of doing something like growing hair at will! There were more changes she made but, she wouldn't ever share them with anyone.

Jing and Li Li could see perfectly fine in the darkness thanks to their refinement and had no issue finding their way around. If it were anyone else, they would need a torch to light their way because it was pitch black once they made it far enough from the entrance. Inside the tunnel, it seemed like a straight path with nothing but stone walls around them. As they continued their way inside, soon they began to see something different. A dead body was slumped against the wall. He had a sword sticking out of his chest and seemed to have died not too long ago. The blood was still fresh. Jing wondered if the murderer was in a hurry because the corpse still had his belongings on him. She placed his stuff in her storage ring and Li Li decided to have a quick snack as he opened the chest of the cadaver and swallowed his heart whole.

"You were scared like a little kitten earlier but not scared enough to have a quick bite?" Jing teased.

"Hoo!" Li Li responded.

"Mhmm.. Okay mister. Whatever you say." Jing held him like she did before and continued down the path as if she was on a morning stroll.

The trio eventually reached some stairs that descended further underground. Jing really hoped this treasure down here was worth it because this is a lot of walking she'd rather not do a second time. Ooh! She could have her slave carry her back. That'll solve her problems.

Jing sadly couldn't drag Bing's body down the stairs or he'd fall all the way down and die. It would also be troublesome to try and carefully drag his body down the stairs. So, she released his leg from her whip and stood over him before kicking him in the side of the face.

He quickly rolled over and bowed towards Jing. A nice recovery. Quick and not too exaggerated.

'Good.' She thought.

"You need of me, my Empress?" He asked politely as if he wasn't just sleeping like the dead for hours.

If Jing wasn't so sure he was really sleeping from exhaustion, she would've thought of him as faking earlier. But he learned his place quite quickly. This gave Jing a satisfied look on her face.

"Do you want me to kick you down the stairs or walk down them?" She asked.

"Stairs? Why can't I see anything? Empress have you blinded me!? Everything is dark!" Bing started weeping.

"Empress how could you blind me in my sleep... you already taken my freedom... were my actions from before not enough to please you?"

Jing kicked Bing in his chin, knocking him on to his back and stunning him momentarily. Jing took out an iron sword from her storage ring and inserted it into herself. She refined it on fine and soon the sword phased through her stomach and into her hand. The sword now glowed with a white aura around it, lighting their nearby surroundings easily.

"I can see! Empress, you didn't blind me! I always knew you were so merciful and forgiving." Bing sucked up as he exaggeratedly bowed up and down towards at Jing.

"Use the light and follow me already before I truly knock you down the stairs." She ordered.

The trio descended down the stairs at a leisure pace.

"Why are we in this dark scary place Empress?" Bing asked.

She turned around and looked at him with a stare that said "Did you really just ask me such a stupid question?" Bing understood that this question was beneath his demonic empress and he should shut his mouth and just wait. No need to give her an excuse to beat him even further. The glowing sword was strange though. He wondered where she got it from. He didn't believe that his Empress had somehow acquired a spirit weapon. You have to know that only cultivators who reached the 7th level in the Qi Gathering stage can barely bring out the potential of a spirit weapon. Bing couldn't even feel the smallest of qi from his Empress so it had to be impossible for her to own a spirit weapon. Even the scary little owl has qi emanating from it.

Spirit weapons are weapons made out of spirit metals. Metals that has been bathed in qi or a certain type of qi for a number of years. Usually it takes hundreds of years before an ore can change into a spirit ore which makes them very valuable and rare. Sects will go to nearly any length to find an ore mine to turn it into a spirit mine. Even if it isn't guaranteed that they will still thrive within a hundred years, it's still an asset that can be used only for one's benefit. A spirit weapon in the hands of a skilled cultivator can cause him to face those above his own realm if they didn't have a spirit weapon of their own.

But now that he thought about it... Why couldn't he feel any qi from the demoness? It was almost as if she wasn't a cultivator at all and was still a mortal through and through. But that was impossible! She's too strong to be a mortal. Unless... She unlocked a bloodline that makes her stronger than others! That has to be it. There was no other explanation he could find that would explain her mysterious strength and lack of qi. To think he would find himself underneath someone who holds a special bloodline lineage. If her temperament was better and her skin was lighter, he would be blessed to be underneath such a cultivator.

By the time Bing was done with his silly thoughts, the trio reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a place that could only be described as a ruin. The ruins were well lit and torches were hanging on the walls. With all the light in this place, Li Li felt comfortable enough to go back onto Jing's shoulder. Jing and Li Li heard fighting up ahead and went to investigate. Bing followed behind the two with his shield at the ready. This place gave him the creeps.

As the three of them went forward, they saw more and more corpses lying around. It seems they all died from in-fighting or some sort of group battle. Jing ordered Bing to take all their stuff so she could put it inside her ring before moving on towards an open doorway. Inside, were other cultivators fighting. They stood outside the door and looked in on the situation.

* * *

"Fang! Your life will come to an end here! Give up the treasure you found and I will make your death painless!" Song Huan promised.

He was a Qi Gatherer of the 4th stage.

"It doesn't have to be this way cousin! I know you are in love with sister Li! I will not impede you in any way! We can both help raise the clan into a better one." Fang Huan said desperately.

He was a peak 3rd stage Qi Gatherer.

"Shut up trash! My life won't be as great with you trying to take away the spotlight from me! I'm the genius of Huan clan! I'm the future patriarch of the clan! You can only blame yourself for not resigning to your fate as trash and lusting after a swan as a mere toad." Song used his qi to strengthen his upper body as he and his minions attacked Fang at the same time.

Fang didn't know whether to cry or laugh. His cousin he grew up with wanted to kill him out of jealousy and fear. When all he wanted was for their clan to prosper. Is there a need for this betrayal and bloodlust between family members...? Even if they aren't blood related, their hearts are both set on making the Huan Clan more prosperous. There has to be a way to end this without killing him...

Fang took on a strange martial stance and closed his eyes. One that made him look like he became one with his surroundings. As if a simple breeze could knock him over but a large wave could never move him. As his attackers closed in, he took a deep breath and once they got close enough, his eyes shot open. He had a sharp focused look in his eyes as he calmly dodged the strike meant to behead him and palmed the branch member in the stomach. The branch member was sent flying like a kite without strings but Fang wasn't done just yet.

After countering the first attack, the second branch member sent numerous hasty slashes towards his upper body. Fang's torso was like a leaf blowing in the wind as he slipped through the slashes and struck the second branch member's chest, knocking him into the air and flat on his face. The only one left was his cousin whose eyes were set on stabbing him straight through his heart. A sad smile appeared on his face as he charged forward and slipped past his cousin's stab.

Song was shocked and couldn't believe this trash could improve this much! When they were younger, they were equals in talent with Fang a little bit higher than his. But a few years ago, all of a sudden Fang's cultivation stagnated and actually regressed! They hired many physicians and doctors to inspect Fang's body but they couldn't find out what happened. Rumors started to go around about Fang being a waste and trash and soon that was his identity inside the clan. Everyone started to forget that he used to toted as a genius and had talent similar to Song himself. But now that his body somehow was cured, he's showing strength that is even better than his!

Even if Song cannot obtain whatever heavenly-defying treasure Fang found, he has to kill him or he'll never find peace within himself! But it seems this is the end for him. Song watches as his cousin's palm heads straight for his heart.

"Ripping Black Palm!" Fang shouted as he struck towards Song's chest.

Maybe he could've reigned his ambition and greed for power and his life wouldn't have come to end. Perhaps he could've been believed Fang when he said he had no romantic feelings towards sister Li. If they were closer, maybe, Fang could've even tried to support him in his conquest for sister Li. A hollow laugh escaped from him. He never had a chance with sister Li. He saw how her eyes turned into hearts whenever she looked at Fang. Besides cultivation and the clan, the only other interests she had was in Fang.

He should've gave up from the start and got rid of this foolish love that's lasted since childhood. He should've been happy for Fang when he found a way to fix his body and cultivate again. He should've done a lot of things different now that he's about to die. But there is no pill for regret nor is there one for bringing the dead back to life. He closed his eyes in anticipation of death.

But death would not take him yet. Fang redirected his palm and merely struck his stomach, launching him into the roof of the ruins and falling harshly to the ground.

"I cannot kill you cousin... Even if you hate me so much you want me dead... I don't hate you.. And I can't kill my own family.." Fang said as turned away from Song.

"Why...?" Song moaned.

"Don't misunderstand me cousin. I am not afraid to kill. But I understand why you tried to do this. You simply wanted the best for yourself and the Huan clan. I want the best for the Huan clan as well. But your greed is simply too much. You can try another attempt on my life but I won't kill you cousin. You're like a brother to me..." Fang shared with a tear falling from his eye before walking towards the exit with a second new ring on his finger.

* * *

"Sorry about this but orders are orders." Ai Bing said as he bashed his shield over the head of Fang, knocking him unconscious.

Ai Bing began stripping the boy of all his belongings including the rings on his fingers and then gently grabbed his neck with his thick fingers and...

SNAP!

"Hey! What... What did you just do...!" Bing heard a voice say to him from inside the room.

"You just killed the patriarch's son! The son of the Huan clan! The Huan clan definitely won't let you off! He's a cultivator at the Core Preparation stage!" Song yelled in complete fear and deliriousness.

He can't believe that his cousin of 15 years just died right in front of him.

"I guess I better make sure they don't know it was me who killed him." Ai Bing responded in a meek voice and a small laugh.

He ignored the voice as he committed the thievery under the eyes of the Huan clan and ended the lives of everyone still alive. The demoness told him to take everything inside this room for her and to get rid of the witnesses. He was just happy she didn't order him to do it when they were still fighting. Even with the shield she gave him, he doubted he could take on a Qi Gatherer of the 4th stage and a 3rd stage that could compete with a 4th stage Qi Gatherer. So, the least he could do was rob these guys while they were weak as thanks for not sending him into that dangerous battle they were watching. He didn't mind killing them either. A cultivator has to kill if they wish to advance in this world. Even a weak person like him knows it's a kill or be killed world.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I plan to flesh out Bing's personality a bit more once he separates from Jing. It will be either inside the sect or during this portion of the test. I haven't decided yet. I might even do both.

One mc down! Haha! Taken out before he could grow into someone truly strong! Don't worry though, he won't be the only mc taken down before his prime.

If you're wondering what his cheat or cliche item was: It was a grandpa ring that would've taught him Heaven-ranked martial arts along with a black stone that reconstructed his body into the perfect body for practicing martial arts.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	11. The Spoils For The Victors!

Bing walked inside the large room with a giant statue of a humanoid figure with 4 arms. The figure had small horns on top of its head and a long pointy tail. In each of its hands laid a different weapon made out of stone. One trident, one sword, one axe, and a bow. The statue seemed to ripple with strength and power but Bing was sure that was just his imagination. The figure did look imposing and powerful but he had a strange feeling in the back of his head that maybe this statue wasn't so simple. That weird feeling wasn't just coming from the statue either. One of the rings he took from Fang gave him a similar feeling to the statue.

Bing felt as if the ring wanted to get his attention.

"Haha what the hell am I thinking? I'd certainly get whipped to death if I tried to hide anything from the demoness." He said to himself before exiting the room and meeting with Jing.

He showed her all the goodies he got from the Huan clan members.

"Alright set it on the floor so I can have a good look. There had to be something of worth inside that room since all these people are dead out here." Jing said.

A majority of the items were just different types of pills but amongst the items there were some mortal-ranked and earth-ranked martial arts and some more swords. She left the rings alone due to Li Li signaling to her that there was something strange about them.

"What is with the obsession with swords? Aren't there other weapons being sold?" Jing muttered in annoyance as she put the 20th sword inside her ring.

"Swords are seen as the king of all weapons, my Empress. The number of famous cultivators that use a weapon that isn't a sword can be counted on two hands." Bing informed.

"How boring." Jing commented as she put on the first ring.

Jing's mind was suddenly pulled inside the ring and she was taken into a whole new place. It looked as if she was inside a royal palace. There was an empty throne in front of her and luxurious and fancy designed furniture all around her. Art pieces of wonder and amazement littered the walls. Jing wondered where in the world has she been brought to and was about to start exploring this place but suddenly a mysterious old man appeared in front of her.

He was dressed like a servant and seemed to be staring at her with hate in his eyes.

"Leave immediately!" He roared.

Jing felt a fierce wave of qi smash into her. She was unable to keep her feet grounded and was sent flying into a painting on the wall. She smashed into the picture frame and fell to the soft velvety rug. Anger and annoyance rushed to her face. If she doesn't teach this old man the true meaning of pain, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

Jing got up off the floor with no discernible injuries present on her. Her body healed them too quickly for her to even notice it.

"I will not teach you any of my martial arts you disgusting thief! You killed my heir and I will never forgive you." He announced.

"I don't need your permission! If I want something, I'm going to get it regardless of who stands in my way." Jing retorted.

"I'd like to see you try. Now leave my heirloom!" He shouted once more, this time forcefully making Jing exit from the mental plane.

Jing returned back to the ruins with Bing and Li Li. She blinked her eyes a few times before a pissed off expression painted her face. Bing immediately bowed in submission while Li Li looked around for any threats.

"I'm fine. Don't mind me. Bing stay in that position for a moment." Jing said.

Jing inserted the ring inside her hand using 914's ability and started refining the ring on 1:1 mode. She consciously switched the ring out with a similar one without the powerful old ghost inside. The ring exited out of her opposite hand and she pulled it back inside herself and refined it on fine this time. The old man said he wouldn't teach her any of his martial arts but she didn't need his stinking techniques in the first place. She couldn't learn them even if she tried anyway because she wasn't even a cultivator yet!

Martial arts can only be utilized through qi. Something Jing does not have quite yet. Maybe she could make some for Li Li though. With 914's ability, she could certainly make something that doesn't exist, like for say a martial arts technique for birds. She'd have to experiment a few times once she reaches the sect, but for now she'll just put it on her to-do list.

Jing refined the ring on fine and made it so that a copy of the wearer would be able to request certain types of martial arts that the old man knew and show them step by step how to perform them and master them. The ring exited her opposite hand and she placed the ring inside her storage ring. This could be quite a good gift for one of her future underlings. Bing has been doing a good job so far, but this type of reward was far too good for him right now.

Jing then tried on the second ring and mentally braced herself to enter another weird plane but found out that she didn't feel anything. Nothing special happened when she put on the ring this time.

"Li Li, you said this one was strange too?" She asked.

Li Li nodded and Jing was confused.

"Empress, it might be that the ring needs qi to properly function. Some artifacts are able to bond with people through blood or qi." Bing suggested.

Jing used her nail to cut into the back of her arm. Her nail sliced her flesh quite easily and blood dripped on the ring. The trio waited for any sign of something special happening and still no success.

"Put this thing on and shoot some qi into it." Jing ordered.

"May I raise my head?" He asked carefully in case this was a trick question for her to just physically assault him.

"Hurry up and put it on."

Bing raised his head and struggled to put the ring around his fat index finger but managed to squeeze it on. Since Bing was a 2nd level qi gatherer, he wasn't able to infuse his qi into objects quite yet but he could use his qi to empower his body and strike the ring. Allowing the ring to take in his leftover qi from the attack.

The ring began to light up, blinding Bing. Li Li and Jing were fine due to their refinement. Bright lights couldn't blind them. The two of them saw a four-armed figure flashed on the surface of the ring as a light blue aura started flowing into Bing's head.

"Is this what qi looks like outside the body?" Jing questioned as she had no idea what else this blue stuff could be.

She tried to touch it as the blue gaseous stream was flowing into Bing's head but felt nothing as it passed through her hand without any change. She didn't feel a change in temperature or any type of feeling as her hand move straight through it. The qi just continued to flow into Bing's head. Jing wondered what the hell was even happening right now but the only person who could was currently knocked out. Bing's eyes were rolled to the back of his head and his mouth was gaping wide open.

This ghastly state didn't last long though. The ring stopped whatever it was doing and Bing returned back to his normal state. He was a bit out of it though but that didn't stop him from forming a smile on his face once he realized what kind of treasure he just gained.

"I'm waiting." Jing said.

Bing suddenly snapped out of it once he heard Jing's commanding tone and relayed what gains he just obtained.

"I've just been given 3 techniques Empress. One auxiliary, one body, and one movement martial arts." Bing shared.

"Go on show me." She said with interest in her voice.

"I won't be able to move much afterwards Empress if I go through all three of them. My qi will be mostly empty and I will barely be able to walk."

"We have pills. Hurry up and show me."

"Very well..." Bing said with nervousness in his voice.

The techniques he's just gained knowledge of will be very beneficial to him. They are all sky-ranked martial arts with the potential to rival heaven-ranked ones! As long as he trains diligently and continues to advance in his cultivation, his rise to the top will only be a matter of time and effort!

Bing had Jing and Li Li follow him back into the large room before. He told them to give him some space and they did as he prepared to use the first technique he's gained. Devil's Arms, the auxiliary martial art. Most auxiliary martial arts utilize a special breathing pattern. This auxiliary skill in particular was special because if one trained this technique to the peak level, they would be capable of materializing hands the size of the heavens and more numerous that stars in the sky.

All martial arts have levels to them. Elementary, Initial, Intermediate, Advanced and Mastered. Training to the mastered stage of a martial arts is very rare unless you were the creator of the technique. The only way one can train to the peak of a martial skill is by fully comprehending the technique with their body, mind, and soul. If one can't comprehend a technique with all 3, they will forever be stuck at the high rank for the skill. Even if they spend 1000s of years practicing, it's all futile if they can't comprehend with their entire being.

Bing infused qi throughout his body as he performed the correct breathing pattern. Jing watched as Bing's flesh began to shift and move across his belly. The area beneath his arm pits started to flesh out and form into two secondary limbs. The fat on Bing's belly began to spread into the second pair of arms he's gained. It looked as if the fat was somehow turning into muscle as the second pair of arms looked very muscular in comparison to Bing's original arms which were flabby and smooth.

Jing watched Bing's new lean figure trying out his new arms.

"It feels completely natural..." Bing muttered.

"What else can you do besides have 4 arms?" Jing asked.

"Well.. I feel like I can move all four of them differently without any problems and I don't think I have a dominant arm anymore. I feel like I can move them all the same." Bing said as he put his shield in each hand and tried out different moves with them.

'There has to be something more to it than just growing arms...' Jing thought.

"Alright get on to the next one." Jing said.

This second martial art was called Devil's Physique. It was a body martial skill which meant he had to circulate qi throughout his body in a special pattern. If this skill was trained to the mastered stage, it is said that the user will be able to roam throughout the heavens with their body without an equal and crush all that oppose them. If he circulated his qi the wrong way, he could risk crippling himself or failing the skill entirely. The higher ranked the martial arts, the more precise and complicated the patterns are.

Bing took extra precaution in performing this skill. He sat in a meditative pose and closed his eyes. Fully focused and concentrated on moving his qi in the correct pathways through his body. To Jing, it seemed that this skill was much harder than the one before it. Sweat was dripping from every inch of Bing's body. His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on moving his qi exactly how he wanted. Flowing through his blood, beautifully coating his muscles, weaving through his bones. His qi traveled through his entire frame enhancing his physique.

Bing exhaled the impurities inside his body from his mouth in the form of a black smog. He calmly rose up from the ground and began flexing as he felt a newfound source of energy surging throughout his body.

"I feel like a whole new Ai Bing!" He said with glee and excitement.

To show off his new strength he stomped the ground with as much force as he could, causing it to shatter beneath him. Jing nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

"Block this." She said as he kicked towards his face without holding back much.

Bing was still frightened of the demoness but with the technique he just gained surely, he should be able to defend himself now shouldn't he? To be extra careful he cross guarded with all four of his arms against Jing's kick. The kick landed onto his arms and a pained expression appeared on his face. The weight behind Jing's kick was far more than he was expecting! He felt like his bones were on the verge of cracking from that single blow alone. She was definitely holding back on him earlier when she physically abused him or he'd be crippled by now!

The sadistic grin painting her face made Bing's face pale. She wasn't going all out in the slightest. She was toying with him, putting him in his place so he doesn't get too big a head from this. Saying that even with 3 sky-ranked martial arts, she's still his Master. With a sullen but understanding look, he dropped his guard and bowed his head.

"Smarter than you look. You're impressing me more and more. Now quickly show me the last one so we can leave this dirty place." Jing said with a pleased smile on her face.

"Yes Empress." Bing responded.

The final sky-ranked martial skill he was given was called Swift Devil. It was a movement martial art that gave the user the speed of a devil. If trained to the peak level, one could move with enough force to shatter mountains and split oceans. Bing was most afraid to try movement technique. This was because he had no idea how fast he would be moving. He just hoped his body technique was strong enough to protect him from any serious damage.

Bing moved to the far end of the opposite side of the room as he ate a qi pill and used the qi for his technique. He flowed his qi through his lower body in the pattern listed for the technique and braced himself as he felt a surge of strength rushing from his legs. He hoped the demoness would be ready with recovery pills in case this turns out horribly. Or at the very least has enough humanity to catch him before he crashes into something. With her strength, catching him should be easy enough right?

"Hurry up!" Jing ordered.

Bing's clothes were already soaked in sweat. He doubted he could sweat any further. But orders are orders...

"Swift Devil!" Bing shouted before vanishing from his previous spot.

Jing watched as her slave's speed increased to the point where it was almost hard for her to notice him. If she wasn't focused on him, he would definitely be nothing more than a blur. This skill could be very useful. As a sneak attack and a method of getting away. Jing would have no chance of catching up to Bing if he used this consistently. But she's sure that he wouldn't be able to get very far based on how he looks right now.

Bing managed to stop himself just before he collided with the walls of the ruin and was breathing heavily. It seems his movement technique takes more on his body than his actual qi to work. He was crouched over taking big gulps of air. He was secretly pleased that he was able to control himself and be aware of his surroundings while he was using the skill.

"Alright let's go back up. Carry me." Jing ordered as she placed her thighs around Bing's neck.

Her smooth brown legs hung across Bing's chest. Li Li stayed perched on her shoulder and Bing slowly got up after catching his breathe. He stopped using his auxiliary technique and returned back to his original round appearance. He would be in heaven right now if a girl that wasn't the demoness did this. Her body is simply too lacking for him to find any small pleasures in this. He would never show his dissatisfaction on his face though, he was positive she would break him apart if he did. So, Bing carried Jing and Li Li all the way back to the surface with a goofy smile on his face.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those wondering if Bing will continue to be a fatty throughout the novel

Yes. Yes he will be.

It seems that Jing is stronger than she seems! I wonder just how powerful she will be once she becomes a cultivator?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	12. Stairs To Heaven!

Once they made it back to the surface, the ground beneath them started to shake. The wild beasts, insects, and birds escaped as fast as they could. Bing couldn't keep his balance and fell to the ground while Jing and Li Li stood completely fine as the violent shaking had no effect on them. The entrance to the ruins they just came from started to close up.

"Is it an earthquake!?" Bing asked.

'I thought those ruins were part of the test, but maybe they were something else...' Jing suspected.

The entrance fully closed up and soon the shaking stopped. Jing started blindly walking through the jungle. Bing hurriedly got up and followed after her.

"What just happened?" He asked.

"How should I know?" She answered.

"Oh. Where are we going now?"

"I accomplished my current goals. All that's left is to wait until this portion of the test is over." Jing told him.

"So, no more fighting to the death with others...?" Bing asked hesitantly.

"Not unless I tell you to." Jing replied.

Bing wiped his forehead full of imaginary sweat.

"Thank goodness..." He muttered.

The trio enjoyed a peaceful walk through the jungle since most of the wild creatures fled earlier. Jing was satisfied with her haul so far. She can use a majority of them to build a stable and firm foundation once she gets accepted into the sect. Jing doesn't currently know what the situation is like at the Golden Serpent Sect but she plans to rise up and take over it for herself or stay behind the scenes and rule it. But if she was being honest, she'd rather stay in the background for a while until the time was needed for her to show herself.

She doesn't mind gaining attention but it wouldn't be as fun and interesting to her. Jing just feels like it isn't in herself to show off her abilities and let everyone know how capable and dangerous she is. Bing is an exception because he's her slave. The only people she plans to show her true self to are those she can control and those she can trust.

So, until the perfect situation comes where her façade is no longer needed, she will become no more than just someone who fits in the background. The perfect normal. The average schmuck. Ruling behind the scenes, getting rid of those who will choose to stand in her way, and building her own faction inside the sect.

Jing's plans for the future were suddenly interrupted by a loud thunderous voice in the sky.

"THE FIRST PORTION OF THE TEST IS OVER! THERE IS NOW AN ACCEPTABLE NUMBER OF PEOPLE FOR THE SECOND PORTION! PREPARE YOURSELVES!" A loud boisterous voice informed.

Jing, Bing, and Li Li watched as their bodies started to vanish slowly.

"My hand!" Bing shouted in fright as his left hand was completely gone.

Jing looked down and saw her legs vanishing in a white light. She could still feel the connection to her legs though, so she didn't freak out as much as Bing was. Li Li pruned his feathers as if the situation didn't faze him in the slightest.

Soon the three of them vanished from the jungle and reappeared in a whole new area. Jing confirmed her body was still in one piece before noticing her new surroundings. Around them were hundreds of other cultivators, similarly confused or still in survival mode. Besides the cultivators though, they seemed to be standing inside a large arena ring. Around them were audience stands and in front of them were stairs ascending to the sky. The stairs had an ethereal look to them. Light blue, solid but seemingly not, and transparent.

"You bastard dog! I'll kill you for killing my cousin!"

"Don't be so upset trash! I'll send you off with your little cousin soon!"

"Oi! Is this waste messing with a member of the Shang clan!?"

"Rip his intestines out of his skull!"

Situations like this happened all around and it seemed like this portion of the test was going to quickly turn into a giant battle. Jing gripped her whip's handle inside her outfit in preparation and Bing nervously stood in front of Jing with his shield at the ready.

"CALM YOURSELVES! There will not be a single blood split right now or I'll fail you this instant!" The same thunderous voice from before threatened.

Jing looked over stands and saw the elders and cultivators from the Golden Serpent Sect sitting in the stands watching them. The one shouting at them was the buff elder she saw before she entered the test. After his threat, all the cultivators with grievances shut up and silently swore to deal with those that crossed them later.

"Good. It seems you all aren't all a bunch of fools. You can worry about your grudges later but for now listen up. You all will climb those stairs till you aren't able to move up anymore. Those who can make it in the top 300 will move on to the next portion. Those who can't will fail here. Any questions?" He asked.

"What happens if there are multiple people on one step?" A random cultivator asked.

"You shove them off till you're the last one on that step." He answered with a grin.

He waited a few more seconds to see if there were any more questions.

"Well BEGIN!" He shouted.

'It's time to put on the show.' Jing secretly smiled to herself as the event began.

A mass majority of cultivators started to rush up the stairs. They shoved, punched, and kicked anyone who was in their way. They're getting to the top of these steps and won't let anyone stop them. The elder didn't say there was a prize for who made it to the highest step, but he didn't say there wasn't. There had to be a reason why only 300 people were passing this part when there were over thousands of cultivators here.

Bing was one of the cultivators who were rushing up the stairs. He had a pathetic desperate expression as he ran like a boar through the crowd. Numerous cultivators were knocked aside or up in the air from his piggy charge. He was going to show his worth no matter what. Jing couldn't be the only one who knew that this wasn't a race. She looked around and saw a small number of people taking their time as they walked towards the steps.

'So, there are some people who realize this isn't a race.' Jing remarked.

But Jing wasn't one of those people right now. She was an extra! A normal! She pushed up her glasses and ran at the same pace as everyone else was towards the stairs. She put on the same desperation in her actions and expression as everyone else was. But a bit more pathetic than theirs. Everyone else had desperation, excited, and fighting spirit in their actions. She had meekness, desperation, and fright in hers. She decided to act like a meek and weak girl on the surface.

Jing was in the lower part of the sea of cultivators while Bing was near the front surprisingly. Jing could still hear his piggy squeals from where she was and she was being knocked all over the place. That sky-ranked body technique made Bing much stronger than a regular 2nd level Qi Gatherer. Jing was starting to think of how she could use Bing in the most optimal way once they made it into the sect but that thought had to wait as she finally understood what was so special about these steps. Jing took her first step and felt a tiny breeze on her body.

She looked backwards and noticed that someone else that took the same step stopped directly in their tracks. She saw them urging every ounce of power in their body to move forward, veins popping, muscles straining, and yelling but no matter what they did they couldn't move past that first step.

"Heh.. Trash couldn't even get past this level of qi?" She heard one of the cultivators say as he passed her.

'Qi? This doesn't feel like qi... That old ghost from before was much stronger than this. That qi felt like going against a natural disaster.' Jing thought to herself before returning back and rushing up the stairs.

The force of qi didn't increase much as she climbed the stairs but she could see the effect it had on others. They tried to force their bodies to go past its limits, cry and beg to let them to make it a few more steps up, or just accept the fact that they are going to fail here and walk down the steps.

It wouldn't be until Jing made it to her 500th step that she began to feel something more than just a tiny breeze. Now she felt something a little bit more than just a breeze, but it wasn't enough to make her expend more energy than usual or anything. If anything, it felt like a light cloth was over her body and trying to prevent her from moving forward. The view to the top was still not clear enough though. About 400 people were still in front of her, so she had 100 more people to pass before she could stop. 300th place would be a fantastic stopping place for her. She does plan on looking weak and untalented. What better place would a person like her be if not completely last?

Jing inwardly smiled but didn't forget to act as if she was struggling against the force of qi acting on her. Once she passed #310, she even started crawling up the steps to add some authenticity and character to her actions! She was determined to make it to at least 300th place and if she has to do it on her hands and knees she will! Despite being a frightful, weak, and cowardly girl, she still has determination when it counts! It's all part of the act.

Li Li was riding on her back, confused entirely. She may have forgotten to let the little man know what she was doing before she started this plan because he was inspecting her body all over wondering if she was sick or something. She had trouble keeping herself from laughing as Li Li worried about her physical state.

Once she finally passed the last person she needed to. She made it to 300th place. She was covered in sweat and breathing as if she just ran across the whole Yellow Jade City. With her refinements, manually causing herself to sweat isn't an issue. Not that temperatures really could affect her much in the first place. She could walk naked through a blizzard and still feel like she is at room temperature.

So, Jing firmly placed herself in 300th and watched as Bing was doing the same act she was doing earlier! He was crawling up 2500th step miserably. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, his body was soaked in sweat, he was breathing like an overworked race horse, and his face was bruised and swollen from all the blows he's taken. Jing quickly counted the number of people and saw that Bing was actually the 75th position. He must have ran out of qi to fuel his martial arts.

'What a surprise! Those martial arts can really change a person. Not too long ago he couldn't even fight a wild boar.' Jing thought in amazement.

But she may have spoken too soon. Currently behind Bing was a young girl. She was just as tired and out of breath as everyone else but she seemed determined to past Bing or at least make it to his spot.

* * *

"I have to do this... for the Huan clan..." She muttered.

Bing's ears perked up.

'Huan clan?! Another one!? What if she finds out I murdered those other Huan clan members?! That one guy did say they had an elder at the Core Preparation stage. No wait how would she ever find out those guys' blood are on my hands? I got to calm down." Bing let loose a breath of relief.

…..

'But... getting rid of one possible source of trouble would be nice... I seriously don't need something like a cultivator at the core preparation stage breathing down my neck. I'm already a slave. Wait that reminds me where is the demoness at?' Bing started looked ahead of him at the 74 other people above him but didn't see Jing anywhere.

'Eh? That's impossible right? She's way stronger than me. There's no way she could've failed this part.' Bing questioned.

He started to look below him but still couldn't find her anywhere. Maybe... just maybe... she somehow failed...? Tears of relief and happiness were threatening to flow from his face but he quickly slapped his chubby cheeks, making them shake and gaining a red mark.

'It's too earlier to get happy! Let's wait until the next test before thinking that she failed.' He told himself.

The Huan clan girl finally made it to his step and soon realized that she couldn't move any further up. They locked eyes. One with awkwardness and one with determination and fierceness. She entered a martial stance and waited for Bing to get in his. Bing was thinking that maybe fate was on his side...

"I'll move down a step. I wouldn't want to hurt a girl in the first place..." Bing said nicely with his hands up in a surrendering pose.

The girl's face turned angry at his comment and she kicked straight towards his chest in retaliation! Bing's eyes opened wide in surprise as he slid towards the edge of the steps. He turned around to notice exactly how high he was in the sky right now and nearly pissed his pants from fear.

'I almost died! She almost killed me! All I said was I didn't want to hurt her and she tries to kill me over it!?' Bing panicked.

Bing managed to balance himself before he could tip over and watched as the girl kicked towards him again.

"Just a girl huh?! I'll show you not to look down on me you weakling!" She harrumphed.

Bing used his shield and threw it at her. The girl wasn't able to dodge with so little space and limited ground they had. She was sent flying off the edge with Bing's shield in her gut. Bing's shield swerved around in the air after knocking the girl off the edge and returned to his hand. Bing could only hear the sounds of the Huan clan girl screaming as she fell to her death. Around him were eyes judging his previous actions.

"I uh... was protecting myself! You all saw her try to kill me!" Bing defended himself.

"Scum..." He heard someone whisper.

"Who said that!? I'm not scum I just didn't want to die!" Bing fiercely protested.

"Should've just went down a step in the first place. The Huan clan will definitely get revenge on that fatty now. They have a large group inside the sect I hear." He heard another gossip.

Bing felt outraged. Those bastards wouldn't just watch as a girl tried to kill them either! Trying to act all superior. Scumbags... Bing snorted in anger as the second portion of the test seemed to end.

"It seems like everyone are happy with their spots or can't move any further. And with this the top 300 have been chosen to move on. Everyone else will return to Yellow Jade City."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't think i accurately portrayed Bing's personality like I wanted to when i was developing his character in my character sheets. I originally put him down as a pacifist but now that i read these chapters i'm like... this guy is not a pacifist...

The girl Bing killed was the love interest of Song and elder sister to Fang. But his share of troubles with the Huan Clan is far from over.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	13. The Final Test!

Everyone started to vanish again. Jing wondered what the third test would be. The one they just went through was even easier than the first one but there wasn't much to gain in this one so she liked the first test better. There was still far too much information about cultivators that she lacked at the moment. Completely unacceptable for her goals for the future. But it isn't as if she could go around asking questions without a care in the world, it wouldn't fit her current character. She'll have to ask Bing at a later date.

For right now though, Jing and the other 299 participants who made it through the second test have been transported into a large spacious room. There were three doors that were separated inside the room. Jing didn't know what laid behind the doors but would know soon.

The three elders and official disciples of the Golden Serpent Sect stood in front of them in awe imposing stances. The youngest-looking and most beautiful of all the elders stepped forward.

"I am Elder Ru. I am in charge of this portion of the test." She introduced professionally.

Elder Ru had vibrant violent hair running down her back. Flawless white skin, lean and slender figure, and a jaw dropping impressive bust. Her face looked as if it was crafted by immortals with her red full lips, small nose, and stern strict eyes. That heavenly fairy staring at them with those eyes that glared at them as if they were nothing at all to her, made many of the cultivators present fall in love with her instantly.

That cold stare that froze them to their core but also heated up their deepest desires, the cultivators couldn't wait to get started on this portion of the test to impress Elder Ru. Jing had no feelings about the lady. Everyone she's seen so far have been handsome or beautiful to her. The young people, the old people, the adults. Even Bing is quite the catch if you can get past his belly.

But she still hasn't found a single person dark skinned like her. Maybe she was in the wrong region to look for people with her skin color. It wasn't as if Jing wanted to relate or connect with people with similar skin tones to her. It was just that it would be easier to not be treated strangely or like an anomaly because of her skin. Jing could've altered her skin color by using her 914 ability but deep in her heart she liked her skin and didn't want to change it. Even if it could help in lowering attraction and staying low key, Jing felt that her skin color was another vital part of her just like her unnatural attraction to causing others to suffer and wanting to control over others.

"For this portion of the test, we will be testing your skill for comprehension. A cultivator without any talent for comprehension will not make it far in their journey to break into the heavens. No matter which occupation they strive for. Pill Refiners, Array Specialists, Martial Artists. All of them require comprehension to advance. And this exam is exactly that, comprehension." She explained.

"Follow me." She said while walking towards the first station in the room.

At the first station were a number of objects. A tall and imposing bookcase filled to the brim with books, wooden humanoid dummies for practicing, a crate filled with qi pills, and a large mat.

"This is for those who wish to test their comprehension in martial arts. You will take a scroll and attempt to comprehend it before the time limit runs out. If you take a mortal-ranked technique, you must comprehend 4 others to initial rank to pass. If you take a stellar-ranked technique, you must comprehend 2 others to initial rank to pass. If you take an earth-ranked technique, you must comprehend 1 other to initial rank to pass. The training dummies are there for a reason, use them. The mat is for comprehending and cultivation."

Techniques can further be separated into even more stages than just mortal, stellar, earth, sky, and heaven. Depending on how skilled a martial artist is, they can have certain accomplishments in a technique. Everyone starts off in the elementary realm when practicing a new martial arts. Then it goes on to the initial realm, intermediate realm, advanced realm, and then completion.

After explaining what laid behind the first door, she brought them into the second door. This area had large thick books on its bookcase, multiple medicinal ingredients, and numerous small pill cauldrons. Jing recognized some of the herbs. She collected a few of those in the first portion, but those thick books kind of scared her. She is definitely not choosing this station no matter what.

'I wouldn't have an issue learning whatever this station was intended for but someone trying to stay low key can't be seen doing something like that for sure. Even the most untalented person in that field had to be intelligent to some degree!' Jing thought.

"This testing area is for those who wish to test their comprehension in pill refinery. Look through any recipe inside the books on the shelves and attempt to make it. Anyone who manages to make a low-grade pill or any ranking of pill will pass this portion. If you can't make a pill, you can also take one of the test sheets and check your knowledge. If you manage to get more than 50 questions right, you will be eligible to pass."

It was at this explanation someone asked a question.

"How is that fair? The requirement to pass is way higher for martial arts practioners!" A 4th level Qi Gatherer remarked.

"Good observation skills. However, the sect has far greater need for pill refiners than martial artists. Martial artists are a dime a dozen while pill refiners are too few and far between, their value is naturally higher than a simple martial artist." She clarified with arrogance.

"Now are there any more questions?"

Everyone stayed silent as to not upset Elder Ru any more than she already is. Getting on the bad side of an elder before even joining the sect is one way to get yourself into a life of hell.

Elder Ru, seeing that no one has any further questions, moved on to the last door. This area had a desk filled with blank pieces of small paper, paintings of strange intricate patterns on the wall arranged in a tower shape, crates filled with ink bottles, brushes, and a large mat. Jing guessed this was for those who wished to create talismans. This didn't look too hard at first glance. It looked like in this area all she had to do was take one of those papers and brush, copy the paintings onto the pieces of paper and that should be it.

"This is the final testing area. This is for those who wish to test their comprehension in arrays and talisman creation. For those wanting to pass this portion you have two different ways to pass. You will need to successfully make 10 mortal-grade talismans or 5 stellar-grade talismans or 1 earth-grade talisman. The other way of passing this area is by creating any type of array formation in one of the paintings near the top. Though, I doubt any of you could unless your family is well versed in arrays."

A few murmurs of unfairness moved through the crowd, but no one directly spoke up about it. Elder Ru simply stared at them before having them returning back to the starting area.

"You all will have 12 hours to pass this final test and then you will officially become disciples of our Golden Serpent Sect. We will be watching. Those who pass will return back here after they're finished. Now begin."

Jing headed straight towards the array area and saw Bing headed towards the martial arts area. Out of the 300 people here, only about 24 headed towards the array area, not including Jing. 100 cultivators went towards the pill refining area, most likely because of Elder Ru's looks and not because of actual interest. And the rest of the 175 participants filled up the martial area.

Jing wasn't really surprised at how this turned out. If anything, it went exactly how she expected it to. She knew that Elder Ru's beauty would make a good number of people want to try out pill refining to try and impress her but this is their future after all. One woman isn't enough to decide their whole future upon, no matter how stunning she looked.

"So why did you choose to come over here?"

"This looked the easiest out of the three. I mean all we have to do is copy some pictures, right?"

"Yeah that's what it looks like. I never really seen an array master in combat before but I heard they are all tricksters and cowards!"

"What! No way! I can't be looked at in such a way. Can I change my mind and try out the martial area?"

"I don't know. Go ask. We do have 12 hours after all."

Jing watched as the boy left the room and never came back. Everyone took notice as the boy freely went from one area to the next and kept it in their mind if their chosen area appears to be more difficult than they expected they can also switch. Jing thought it was nice of the sect to allow them to do that even though you'll be stressed for time to pass if you do switch over. She didn't plan on switching areas but she does plan on struggling a little bit to stay in character.

How could a clumsy, weak, cowardly, and not talented girl pass on her first try? That wouldn't make sense unless she was actually talented! Which she is, but no one has to know that. Jing doubts that she could ever have a problem with anything related to learning. With her one-of-a-kind refining abilities, she basically gave herself a superior brain the likes of which no one could ever have. Well, besides Li Li. She made him plenty smart too.

And speaking of his smartness, this little curious owlet is trying to learn how to make his own talisman ahead of her! After Jing went over to the desk and grabbed 10 blank rectangular papers with the brush and ink cup infused with qi, she sat down on the mat ready to begin. Li Li took it upon himself to try and mimic what the others were doing. He took a small blank talisman with his talon and placed it on the mat. He then grabbed the brush and dipped it in the ink, infusing it with qi before finally looking at the most complicated painting up on the wall. The high-ranked spell, Blinding Lightning Burst.

"I can't believe they think that one of us would actually be able to make a talisman for blinding lightning burst. If we were capable of doing that, we would've already been snatched up by a powerful sect."

"I heard that this spell is so powerful that anyone under the Qi Consolidation stage would turn directly into ash even if they weren't hit directly by the talisman!"

"It's true! Even peak cultivators at the Qi Consolidation realm would be severely injured by this talisman! That's why it costs around 5 high grade spirit stones just to purchase one!"

Blinding Lightning Burst is known for being one of the most popular and powerful spells used by cultivators. And Jing's innocent owlet of just a few days was attempting to make it all on his own, unaware of the dangers of shaping talismans. Just one wrong stroke of the brush, and the talisman could backfire on you. Depending on the ranking of the type of spell you're trying to create, also depends on the power of the backlash. And once you started to etch the spell's pattern into the talisman, you could not stop until you were finished.

Low rank or mortal ranked talismans will at most burn up if too many mistakes are made. Middle rank or stellar ranked talismans will create a backlash with a small portion of the spell's power on the talisman. High rank or earth ranked talismans will make a backlash with half of the spell's power on the talisman. Top rank or sky ranked talismans will cause the talisman to explode with all of the spell's power. It is unknown what happens when a peak rank or heaven ranked talisman would do because no one in all of the continent has ever witnessed the creation of a heaven ranked talisman. But it is hypothesized that the talisman would explode with twice as much power as it would from a sky ranked talisman. An explosion of that size would be enough to demolish any large kingdom!

Jing, in her inexperience in this world, had no idea of the repercussions of forcibly halting the formation of a talisman. But she did know that Li Li would easily be able to recreate the pattern in the painting. So, she stopped him in his tracks as he was just a quarter of the way started.

"Hoo!?" Li Li squawked as the talisman started to light up in Jing's hand.

Jing quickly stuffed the incomplete talisman in her storage ring and unknowingly saved herself from the incoming backlash.

"I'm sorry Li Li. I'll let you practice with talismans later but for now I need you to just watch me okay?" Jing said nicely.

Li Li sadly put away the brush and paper before returning to perch on Jing's shoulder.

"I promise I'll let you play all you want later. Don't be sad." She said while gently rubbing his feathers.

Li Li's head raised slightly but Jing could tell he was still a bit down. She really wanted to let him try it but the attention they would gain would throw everything she's working for into the mud. She's never seen Li Li sad before and it was really pressing on her heart. She's raised him ever since he was an egg. This was a hard for both of them but Jing hoped he would be a little satisfied just by watching for now.

Jing grabbed a blank paper to get started on. She dipped the brush and got started on one of the mortal ranked spells. The spell she got started on was called qi shield. When used by a cultivator, this spell would create a barrier made out of qi. It's a one-use item and could only create a barrier as strong as the person using it. So, if a qi gatherer of the 5th level used qi shield, it would create a barrier that was as strong as a qi gatherer at the 5th level. It was a common but popular item to use by cultivators of all realms.

Jing's initial start on the talisman was flawless. Her slender and feminine arms moved without haste. Her hands were as steady as a rock and as fluid as a river. The complicated spell patterns didn't stand a chance against Jing's superior mind and dexterity. The almost completed talisman looked flawless so far.

The right amount of ink used without dipping to much on to the talisman or too little, the perfectly curved ink patterns, and the professional posture she sat with. All made it appear that this first spell will be done without any issues! Jing was just about to finish up with the spell but suddenly just before she finished the last dot, she amateurishly scrawled across the talisman, completely ruining it and causing it to burn up in a purple flame and into ash.

"Awh dang it..." She said out loud so everyone could see that she failed.

"SHHHH!" Someone shushed her.

Everyone was too busy concentrating on their own talismans or watching the more skilled people create their talismans. She made her face turn red from embarrassment before she focused back on making talismans.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Last test and then we're on our way to the sect!

Looks like Jing is going the route of an array master on the surface. But i wonder if anyone will find out about her hidden talent?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	14. Gaining Attention? What Kind Of Beast Is

10 hours have passed since the start of the final test. The situation has turned into chaos and pandemonium for the less talented of the people present. Once they realized the remaining amount of time and their lack of progress, they begun to run around from station to station in a panic. If they weren't talented in martial arts, then they'll try pill refining. If they aren't talented in martial arts and pill refining, they will try arrays. If they aren't talented in martial arts, pill refining, and arrays, then they will head back to pill refining to learn as much as they can to try and pass the knowledge check sheet. These people have good prospects for becoming apprentice alchemists.

Passing the pill refining test sheet was the only chance for those not gifted in any of the paths to pass this final portion of the test because it was not based on talent at all and rather intelligence or the ability to retain knowledge. In the martial area, Bing was diligently practicing with the mortal-ranked martial arts. He rose 3 of them so far to the initial realm and only had two more to finish.

Compared to the sky-ranked martial arts he's already learned, these mortal-ranked ones aren't that difficult to learn in comparison. The only issue he had so far was that his competition was pretty tough. The martial area was filled with scary and dangerous cultivators. Everyone was either glaring at each other or focusing on practicing the techniques. All the cultivators remaining were far above him in cultivation. The only one close to him in cultivation was one frightening looking boy with purple streaks in his hair and a strange qi presence. He was a qi gatherer at the third level but felt like he could definitely battle with those above his level.

The rest were above the 3rd stage and those above the 4th stage had large backgrounds. Bing avoided the eyes of everyone and just focused on practicing these last two martial arts to the initial realm. Even with his sky-ranked techniques, he doubted he could even stalemate against these guys. Thankfully, no one tried to find trouble with him. He guessed they were too busy trying to pass themselves to mess with him. They did have only 2 hours left.

* * *

Jing wiped some sweat from her forehead as she just finished her 7th mortal-ranked talisman. Her face was focused and determined as she grabbed another piece of paper and got to work on number eight. She had to keep up appearances after all. Anyone could be watching her.

Which is also one of the reasons why she's only been working on with the qi shield spell. Jing thought that it may make her look more talented if she was able to create 10 different talismans and being talented wasn't her goal. So, she faked earnestly working on the qi shield spell over and over. She's failed dozens of times to show off just how average she was. She didn't finish her first talisman until they were 2 and a half hours in and even after that she still made mistakes from time to time.

Taking these extra steps would take a lot of patience from a person but Jing didn't feel tired at all. She felt as if this wasn't the first time she was acting out a character and wondered once more just what kind of person she was in the past. It made her curious to an extent, but it wasn't as if she would try and find out at all costs exactly who she was. She didn't care about her past that much.

She just had a little interest because it was so far from the average person in terms of personality. She's sure she'll find out more about herself as time goes on. There isn't really a need to investigate and such. She wouldn't even know where to start in the first place.

"Are you still working on such a basic level spell? Even my 3 year old sister would be able to finish such an easy talisman." A sudden youth stated from behind her.

"I'm… doing the best I can." Jing responded in a small voice.

"You're doing it all wrong! Your hands are shaking, you're barely using any spirit ink, and you can't even draw a straight line!" He berated her with his eyebrows creasing.

"I…. I…." She wasn't able to finish as the gazes and whispers of others reached them.

"What is the array prodigy Shang Zhai doing talking to that ugly girl?" A nearby group of girls gossiped.

"A cultivator like him that came from a long line of famous array geniuses wouldn't be talking to someone like that of his own free will."

"Maybe she asked him for help after she saw him form the qi barrier formation and passed within the first hour. "

"Someone as ugly as her thinking she can take Zhai from us? Nothing but a toad listing after our glorious swan."

A downcast look appeared on Jing's face but she didn't let this stop her. Although disheartened and shamed for no reason, she continues to attempt to pass the array portion of the final test. She went to grab another ink bottle and dipped her brush into it before trying to redraw on a whole new slip. Her concentration was all over the place as more insulting comments washed over her ears.

"Hmph now she's trying to act all high and mighty. I bet she won't even pass and get accepted into the sect."

"Look she only finished with seven talismans! How untalented can one be?!"

* * *

Shang Zhai's face seemed to grow even angrier after noticing her reaction to the negative murmurs and the whispering in general. He shot a quick glare at the gossiping cultivators, shutting them up instantly before sitting right next to Jing.

"I will only show you this once. Don't think too much of it! I am only doing this out of pity because of your horrible skill." He told her.

Shang Zhai ripped her talisman into ash as he pulled out a blank slip from the storage ring on his finger. He placed the slip down and used his qi to harden the brush. The hardened brush allowed Zhai to have a more accurate stroke and deeper press, making it easier for him to follow the spell design to perfection and finish the talisman.

Shane Zhai prowess in arrays started to show nearly instantly. His hands flowed as fast and as smoothly as a river. Amongst any of the youth present in the room, those that can be said to have a higher skill than Zhai in the path of arrays is none. The way he seamlessly drew an exact replica of the spell pattern after only taking a single glance can be said to be nothing short of perfection.

"I'm sure that Shang Zhai is the only one who could complete a mortal-ranked spell in less than 15 breaths."

"It takes me a good hour to create a half decent qi shield! The Heavens are truly unjust!"

Shang Zhai finished up and looked over at Jing.

"Hmph. How was that? Did you learn anything?" He asked with a smug smile on his face.

He looked over to see Jing with a confused but amazed look on her face. He nearly face palmed but realized that maybe he went a little too fast. He went slower a second time, showing her some basic drawing techniques for drawing perfect lines, curves, and more. After finishing this time, he saw a more responsive appearance from her. It seemed like she got something out of it. Not even realizing that he just went back on the words he said earlier.

"Thank you so much!" A bright innocent smile radiated from Jing that was a complete antithesis to her personality as a whole.

The array prodigy had a small blush appear on his face that Jing managed to catch before he turned around and hid his face with his sleeve.

"I'll take my leave now. The sight of you struggling over something so simple was irritating to say the least." He said while still hiding his face.

* * *

Jing was confused but amused at the young genius. He seemed cute to her. She had no idea what he saw in her but she planned to take advantage of it. Another person that can used by her is never a bad thing, especially when it's an innocent young boy who seems to have issues expressing himself honestly.

At first, she believed he was just coming to make trouble with her based on the first words he said to her.

'I mean who starts a conversation by insulting someone?'

But as she watched the way he reacted to the negative words about her and him showing her basic talisman drawing techniques, she knew that he had an interest in her. Jing herself doesn't help anyone unless it can benefit her in some way. So why would someone else help without also expecting something in return?

Did he want her body? Did he want Li Li? She couldn't exactly find his angle in all this at the beginning but by the end she knew exactly why he came over. A sinister smile almost leaked from Jing's face as she thought of using this boy to her whim. His youthful innocence and high popularity made her excited for the future.

A future that will only be possible if she passes this recruitment test. She only has about an hour left before the last test is over. Jing started to work on talisman #8 and showed much more careful deliberation and used the techniques taught to her by Shang Zhai. Her attempts at replicating the techniques were laughable but worked and although the finished product was a bit crude, it was good enough to successfully create the spell for qi shield. But unlike the last times where she made it look like she took a short break to give her hand a break, she continued onto talisman #9 and then to talisman #10 before finally passing with only 10 minutes to spare.

She looked around to see those that have yet to finish in a frenzy and those that have passed returned to the starting area near the disciples and elders of the Golden Serpent Sect. She got up off the mat and moved over there with a relieved smile on her lips. She saw that Bing was surrounded on all sides with a frightful look on his face. He was avoiding the eyes of everyone and just kept his eyes to the ground.

A few more participants managed to make it before the 12 hours was over. But overall it accounted to about 100 people left that managed to pass the Golden Serpent Sect recruitment test.

"More people passed this year than the last 5 years. Not bad…" Elder Ru told them as their bodies started to vanish for the last time.

Jing reappeared at Yellow Jade City. The elders all brought out a talisman and sliced them in half simultaneously, causing it to burn into ash from purple flames. Jing looked around wondering what did they just do while everyone inside the city was looking up at them with excitement, expectation, and amazement. Jing and all the others who passed looked up as well before noticing a huge shadow overtaking them.

A giant golden winged serpent soared in the skies above Yellow Jade City. The cheers of the mortals below nearly managed to stir the new disciples out of their shock but it wasn't enough. The sheer aura of a beast on this level was enough to freeze even the most talented of new disciples. Whether it was Tang Wuying, Xiao Hong, Gong Jun, Shang Zhai, or Liu Lan they were all unable to move a single inch.

Jing and Li Li were fine though. Jing guessed the aura everyone else was feeling wasn't qi and was something else that she didn't know about. Because if it was qi the snake was radiating, she would perhaps be as frightened as everyone else. But this didn't stop her from at least acting like fear struck her soul! Jing was shaking and sweating just as worst as the other cultivators were and even fell down on her butt to stay true to her cowardly and frightful nature. Li Li stared at the beast as if he was ready to battle any second.

Although the more talented disciples couldn't move, they didn't give up. They continued to fight against the fear in their heart. They continued to struggle to regain control over their body. To fight against the shackles placed over them and to keep resisting no matter what!

The members of the Golden Serpent Sect laughed in amusement while a few elders gave eyebrow raises to those still trying. The winged Serpent cane flying down towards them.

"Mommy I don't want to die!"

"Shut up fool! We're not going to die!"

"I think I soiled my robes…"

"I'll give 10 low spirit stones for anyone's clothes!"

An amused grin showed up on Elder Mo's mouth.

"Riding this amazing beast is how we are getting to the sect." He explained, causing a few disciples to faint.

"Come on. Chop chop. We don't have all day. Jump on and make sure you hold onto her beautiful scales tight. If you fall, that's your fault for being so weak." He rushed them.

No one was willing to take the first step.

"Did we accidentally pass a whole group with no spines?" One of the current disciples asked with a snigger.

"Hah…. What a shame. I had such great hopes for my new junior martial brothers and sisters. If they can't even ride a tamed beast, then they surely can't make it far on the journey of cultivation." Another disciple added.

These comments deeply stabbed into the hearts of the new disciples. Prompting them to will any courage or pride inside them to force them into leaping onto the golden serpent. The snake was long enough for everyone to ride and a few hundred more even. It took a few moments but eventually all 100 new disciples got aboard the flying snake.

Jing and Bing were amongst the last ones to hop on. Jing glared at Bing, prompting him sit ahead of her. He jumped in fright from her gaze while secretly crying in his heart that she passed and his life at the sect will be ruined. Jing smiled in satisfaction, seeing Bing dutifully following her commands.

Now that everyone got on and gripped tightly to the beast, it started to flap its wings and take off into the sky. Jing expected to feel a powerful gale of wind to attempt and blast her off but felt no wind at all. It was a pleasant surprise, but also unexpected. She guessed that qi was being used to block the wind coming at them because they were moving very fast in the sky. They were flying above the clouds and everyone who had the guts to look around were amazed by the fantastic sight.

"If you're shocked by this just wait till we get to the sect." One of the senior disciples said smugly.

"The scenery there will blow you away." Another one added.

Jing figured now would be the best time to explain things to Bing. She couldn't have him calling her Empress, master, and the such in public. It would destroy her character in one fell swoop!

"Slave." Jing spoke into Bing's ear.

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest from the closeness of her demonic voice. Adding the fact that were currently soaring the sky at speeds unknown, just what insane demands could she possibly ask for right now?

"Empress...?" He responded.

"Once we arrive to the sect, we will be nothing but strangers. You will not refer to me as anything but Jing and you will treat me no differently than you would anyone else."

Ai Bing couldn't believe the words he was hearing right now. Was the demoness really giving him his freedom? Was he finally free to live his life as he wanted from now on? Can he see his family once again in the future? Find a beautiful cute gentle girlfriend. Get married and have dozens of children...

"Wipe that disgusting smile off your face. Don't be mistaken fool. You are still nothing more than my possession. I am telling you this because I don't wish to gain attention by anyone in the sect. I will be acting like a sheep while being the tiger. I think that's how you people would describe it." Jing explained.

Tears slowly fell from Bing's eyes. It was too glorious to be true.

'How could I be so naïve?'

A demoness will forever be an incomprehensible being. He didn't understand why a vile she-demon like her would want to act low key but has he understood anything about her so far? The thoughts of a demon can't be comprehended by the mind of a simple human like himself.

"I will find a way to get in contact with you once we get settled in the sect. Until then, you are free to do as you wish." Jing told him as she went back to acting nervous but also excited and wowed by the sights they were seeing in the sky.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finding a way to finish up this chapter took me several days tbh. I was hesitant on thinking if i should add a situation or event to occur here but in the end I decided to add one. I feel like i made the right choice in how i wrote it out and plan to use him in the future.

I did not forget about the mission rewards! (I'm lying. I just fucking remembered about the missions from the start of the recruitment test.) I will add it at the beginning of the next chapter.)


	15. Useful System Rewards!

On her journey to her new home, Jing was relaxing with Li Li as they flew above the skies. She looked down at the endless color of green below her. The Immortal Forest reaches much farther than Jing originally thought it did. She was certain that if she didn't have Li Li when she first came here, she could have been stuck in that forest for the rest of her life! Even when they were so high up, she still couldn't see any end in sight to this forest. It is said that some of the truly strong beasts that inhabit the deep parts of the Immortal Forest are strong enough to go to head with the current sect leader of the Golden Serpent Sect.

But this was just a rumor that Jing heard amongst her fellow martial peers. Not that she could really imagine the power that the sect leader has nor the beasts that live deep in the Immortal Forest. The strongest thing she's felt so far was the old ghost in the ring that she got rid of back in the ruins. The second would be Elder Change, the elderly looking examiner. The long white beard and hair tied up in a pony tail, wrinkled skin with a sharp gaze, eyes filled with such wisdom and strength. He's an array elder as well. So, Jing might have to call him master in the future.

She looked over to see Bing enjoying the view on top of the winged snake like a majority of the others. She also sensed a particular gaze directed at herself from up ahead on the beast. This wasn't the first time she felt someone's gaze on her since they began flying. Most of the time it was because of Li Li and trying to figure out who could be the owner of such a handsome spirit beast, but this time the gaze stayed on her longer than usual. Just about as long as the time when she was talking to Bing earlier.

She innocently looked over and briefly met eyes with Shang Zhai. He immediately turned his head and looked off into the distance. Jing inwardly smirked before going back about her business of relaxing and petting Li Li's unbelievably soft feathers.

***DING***

**[Multiple Missions Completed!]**

**[Rewards: 3 rare tickets, 100,000 yuan, 5 low-quality spirit stones, Book of Qi]**

**[Mission Failed!]**

**[You failed to kill over 500 competitors during the test!]**

**[Penalty: None]**

**[Mission Reminder!]**

**[Help the arrogant young master regain some face! Train Tang Wuying till he's capable of fighting evenly with Gong Jun or surpassing him in strength! Or weaken Tang Wuying by the time of the duel that he loses all popularity and credibility.]**

**[Rewards: Group tab is unlocked, martial technique: Snake Fist, 3 rare tickets.]**

Her mission rewards automatically transferred into her system's inventory. When she went in to look she noticed the familiar lock symbol on the bottom right of the tickets, indicating that she can't bring it out of her inventory and can only be used through the system.

'The being that made this system is pretty sharp. I planned on taking the tickets out of my inventory and refining them into legendary tickets but it got one over me instead by not allowing me to have contact with the tickets at all.' Jing smiled at being checkmated by the system's creator.

'It seems they do not care about what I can do with the other rewards though or the limits I can raise with the others aren't worthy enough to be acknowledged by the system's creator.' Jing guessed.

The money would be useful once she returns back to the city for whatever reason. She found out one way to never be broke again by using 914's refining abilities. But that can wait till later, she has no use for monetary needs as of right now. The book however, was a name she recognized. She went to the system's menu and went to the ally tab before clicking on Bing's name.

**[Name: Ai Bing]**

**[Rank: Qi Gathering 2 Peak]**

**[Occupation: Martial Artist]**

**[Techniques: Devil's Arms (Initial Realm), Devil's Physique (Initial Realm), Swift Devil (Initial Realm), ... ]**

**[Cultivation Method: Book of Qi]**

**[Loyalty: 40% (Scared to death of you but has come to terms that his life of freedom is now forfeit.)]**

'Ah so it was a cultivation technique... And considering that it's the same one Bing has it must be the most common or weakest one there is.' Jing figured.

She was not too worried about the ranking of things though. With 914's ability, even a pile of dirt could turn into a pile of diamonds! So, this common cultivation method has the same value as a rare and one-of-a-kind cultivation book! The advantage Jing has over others can't even be considered to be fair. If the standard cultivator was said to be on stage 5, then Jing would be on stage 100! To even try and compare her to those around her would be the first mistake to make!

Jing decided to wait till she got settled at the sect before officially becoming a cultivator. There's no reason to gain attention here by breaking into the first realm. She's gained enough by attracting the feelings of Shang Zhai and somehow passing the ridiculously difficult recruitment test without even being a cultivator. Even by doing the bare minimum, she still caught the eye of the elders and some of her fellow peers. But as far she knows, they only believe her to be an incredibly lucky mortal with a tamed spirit beast.

'It's good enough for now. The only other way I could've attracted less attention was if I didn't have Li Li or was already a cultivator before I took the test.' Jing thought before going into her inventory.

She decided to use her 3 rare tickets. She didn't think there was much of a point of waiting till later to use them. It's not as if her luck would increase if she decided to wait to use them until she was in trouble. That's just wishful thinking and naivety. The world doesn't go the way you wish it to just because you're in a tight situation.

**[Warning!]**

**[A Penalty Is In Effect!]**

**[Reduced luck in next gacha spin!]**

'Reduced luck? I guess that means I'll most likely get some worthless items.' Jing was about to shrug her shoulders and continue to use them anyway but suddenly stopped herself.

'Next gacha spin? Doesn't that mean if I use only 1 ticket right now, then it would only lower my luck with that ticket instead of all of them?" She asked herself.

Jing realized that only she could answer her questions. The system sure wasn't responding to her. So instead of using all 3 rare tickets together like she originally planned, she used only a single ticket.

**[Host has received Cerulean Venus Flytrap seed]**

She then used her next 2 rare tickets together.

**[Host has received Tiger Boomerang, SCP – 4820]**

'Another SCP? How lucky...' She commented with a content look on her face.

She doubted she was going to find much use out of the seed and boomerang but it wouldn't feel right to her if she doesn't use everything in her disposal to their fullest. Jing believed that everything has some value and with 914's ability inside her, that belief was enforced even more. Didn't she have a mission to help Tang Wuying win some duel in a couple months? She could think of some situation where she could give it to him but to get him proficient enough in wielding it to the point of not get wiped out by Gong Jon, the genius martial artist that made her knees quiver even after her refinement. She'll have to do some planning to get everything just right.

Jing didn't plan on weakening Tang Wuying and having him lose horribly. In fact, she plans on recruiting him to her side in these few months. Even though making him lose would be easier and she would still get the mission rewards regardless of what she does, having the only son of Yellow Jade City's ruler on her side can only bring benefits to her. His personality might be horrible but it isn't like she plans on being friends with the boy, just using him until he has no further use to her.

Her first gacha spin could be used if she grows a garden, she could place the Cerulean Venus Flytrap seed inside to defend it from thieves and pests. She still had numerous plants and herbs inside her storage ring that she could plant so, making a garden isn't such a bad idea. She'd have to learn how to take care of a garden though. Hopefully there's a book or place inside the sect where she can learn about it.

Her final reward made her hesitant. She was deliberating over whether to sell this back to the system or not for the 50,000 points it would give her. She personally had no use for this SCP but then again there was nothing inside the system store she could really get even if she sold it. The only thing inside the store was a mug, steel sword, fishing rod, recovery pills, a mysterious egg, and SCP-914. She couldn't even pay half of what SCP-914 was worth with 50,000 store points. It costed a whole 5,000,000 store points!

But then she realized that keeping it wouldn't be such a bad thing either. According to the system, she could gift her allies SCPs in her inventory once their loyalty has reached 100%. And having an undying ally would be pretty useful. So, Jing chose to keep it instead of selling it to the system.

"We've arrived!" Elder Mo shouted with pride in his deep burly voice.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.

Next Chapter we are finally arriving to the sect! Let's get this story finally going! We're done with the first arc i set which i called Before The Sect! I don't think i accomplished much but it's a start!


	16. Jing's New Home!

Jing and the rest of the new disciples were lined up together once they made it inside the sect. It felt like they were a local attraction because everyone in the sect was staring at them. The numerous elders of the Golden Serpent Sect were standing in front of them to see if any of them were talented enough to become their personal disciples. The elders who watched over the recruitment test had first pick to choose anyone they had their eye on.

Jing hoped none of the elders chose her. It would completely ruin her future goals and plans right now if she was to gain anymore attention. She doubted than anyone would find something special about her but there was always a chance of something going wrong. All she can do right now is just wait and see.

It was clear to Jing that the elders already made their choices on who they wanted for their personal disciples. They were just doing the courteous thing of making it seem like everyone had the possibility of being their disciple by walking up and down the line while looking at everyone. In the end, the examiners chose their disciples. Elder Mo, the martial elder, picked Tang Wuying and Gong Jun as his students. Elder Ru, the pill elder, chose Xiao Hong and Liu Lan as her disciples. Elder Chang, the array elder, chose Shang Zhai as his sole disciple. After choosing who they wanted, they quickly exited the scene with their new students.

Then the rest of the elders had their pick of the rest of the litter. If it didn't seem so ridiculous to her, Jing was pretty sure she would burst out laughing. It doesn't even seem like they're being treated as people and more like animals to adopt! This method of choosing disciples is laughable at best. If it was up to her, she would definitely think of a more efficient way of situating the new disciples.

'Did that old bastard just scoff in my face? I'll remember your face in the future. The others at least had the decency to ignore me completely but then you—Another elder just mocked me! Is this how they run things here?!' Jing inwardly blew up at the disrespect and mockery that was made of her and a few other disciples.

Jing wasn't chosen by any of the remaining elders and was one of the unlucky few to be ignored by all of the elders in the sect. She and a few others were just left there on their own with no further instruction on what to do. So, she waited. She was still in character right now and couldn't just take the first step and leave and do whatever she wanted. Since everyone else was just as confused. It wasn't until a few disciples walked over and started to explain things to them.

"It looks like this is the trash pile of our new martial brothers and sisters." An outer disciple said with a smug look on his face.

A few of the newly arrived disciples took offense to this statement.

"What do you mean trash?! I'm part of the famous Zhuo clan!"

"If you weren't picked by any of the elders, your talent for the future is trash or you offended the wrong people." He said with a shrug.

"Im...Impossible! You are only messing with us! Let's go everyone. We'll prove we're not trash!"

"Go where? Do you even know how things work around here? You just got here. I'll be willing to show you around for a price..." He said while holding up a single finger.

"You're charging us for something like this!?"

"That's too much!"

"Now now... No one said you had to take me up on my offer. You are free to leave and do whatever you please. No one is going to force you to accept."

The lack of support and guidance from the sect really surprised them. It feels as if they were abandoned and treated as wastes, a completely new experience for most of these youths who were treated as geniuses and prodigies by their clans. Those who were used to being treated as untalented and nothing special quickly forked out a single spirit stone. Jing used this time to look very indecisive and ashamed at her lack of talent. It wasn't until a good half of the remaining youth here forked out a spirit stone that Jing also gave a spirit stone to the outer disciple she's going to call guide boy.

"Ahaha alright! Let's get this going then everyone. If anyone who hasn't paid tries to follow us." He turned his eyes to the few that refused to pay.

He sent a wave of killing intent towards them, knocking a large group of them to the floor in a fright. This show of strength surprised nearly all of the new disciples. He didn't even use qi, but he could still show off his powerful strength without it! Making all the new disciples know that this guy is not just any random outer disciple. Those who were planning to follow without paying quickly reconsidered and scampered off.

Jing and Bing were not a part of that group and were dutifully experiencing the tour of the Golden Serpent Sect. The guide showed their group around and told them everything they needed to know. Guide boy was even polite enough to answer questions without charging for them. Jing's view on him slightly changed a bit. She expected him to be a greedy bastard but he turned out to be a pretty decent guide.

She learned of her current responsibilities as a newly outer disciple, her new place of residence, the places she's allowed to go to, places she's not allowed to go to, and the rules of the sect. It was quite an eye-opening experience to Jing at all the sights she saw during her tour around the sect. Once she arrived in her home that can only be described as a lowly shack, she began to consolidate all her findings today. But before she did that, she would have to fix this place up a bit.

Her pride will not allow her to live in such a disgusting hobble. So, she got to work on fixing up the place. Once you walked in the door of the hut, you would see a small uncomfortable looking bed, a dirty dusty wooden floor, a small broken wooden table that was low to the floor, and no windows. Jing reached into her robes and pulled out the leaf fan she made when she first woke up. The small amount of wind this thing could control wasn't nearly enough to clear this place full of dust. To fix that, Jing refined it on very fine and made it so that the wind it controls erases all traces of dust, dirt, and anything else that wouldn't please Jing.

Jing lightly swung the leaf fan and a large gust of wind erupted inside her room. Her clothes and hair were blown in all sorts of directions as the wind crazily danced all around the room, erasing all traces of dirtiness. Jing watched with a content smile as the place was fixed up almost instantly. Unfortunately, the things the wind counted as trash wasn't exactly the same as her idea of trash. The table got erased by the wind as well. No future tea time for her or any guests anymore.

But it wasn't all bad, this place looked completely spotless now and Jing had no trouble with touching anything inside here anymore. Who knows how many people lived in this hobble before her? And what kind of things they've done inside here. Jing refused to believe that someone cleaned these places for them. That would be far too optimistic.

Jing sat on the newly cleaned bed with no further reservations and got to thinking about her current responsibilities as an outer disciple of the Golden Serpent Sect. The first thing she should do is go claim her monthly spirit stones. All disciples are given a monthly amount of spirit stones. Certain disciples can get more spirit stones depending on their ranking or status within the sect. Outer disciples get 5 low-ranked spirit stones each month. Inner disciples get 5 middle-ranked spirit stones each month. Core disciples get 5 high-ranked spirit stones each month.

Rankings is a system where each disciple can prove their worth to the sect and receive benefits based on that worth. Each court has its own ranking system. Outer court is the most numerous, Inner court is the fiercest, and the Core court is the most popular. To enter the rankings all you have to do is challenge someone already ranked, it doesn't matter if you win or lose.

Jing doesn't plan on entering the rankings anytime soon. She has no reason to! Even if she did enter, she would have to reveal that she's stronger than 9 thousand other outer disciples before she could receive a reward anyway. Entirely counter intuitive to her goals as of right now.

Anyway, as an outer disciple Jing will have to complete 5 tasks set by the sect each month or she will not be able to receive her monthly spirit stones and if she continues to not accomplish any tasks set by the set, she could get kicked out of the sect if she's lucky. There are rumors that something terrible could happen to disciples that refuse to do the tasks set by the sect and that they will never be seen again. Some of the rumors range from being used as an ingredient in a cauldron to being a training dummy for certain personal disciples to use.

There were a good number of requests given by the sect that no matter what kind of talent you had as long as you had functioning limbs and could follow instructions, it wouldn't be hard to find tasks to complete. Guide boy told them that most disciples choose easy non-time-consuming tasks so that they can get back to cultivating to try and improve their rankings to get more resources. But those who want to push themselves further will choose challenging tasks to gain more contribution points. Contribution points can be used to exchange for items within the sect. Items like pills, talismans, weapons, and the like.

Guide boy said that earning contribution points is one of the vital ways of advancing inside the sect. Especially for talentless cultivators like them who were abandoned by the elders. Since they had no talent for pill making, talisman designing, or martial arts then they would have to rely on resources to gain advantages. He also added that since they have no important backgrounds to not get on the bad side of anyone who does. That's how most disciples end up dead or suppressed.

'What a terrible way of running a place...' Jing thought at the time.

Contribution points cannot be traded amongst disciples. This helps makes sure that those with a lot of contribution points can't help someone else just starting out by gifting them a lot of contribution points to quickly advance within the sect. However, contribution points can be betted with and on through duels, challenges, tournaments, and ranking matches. Most people won't accept a challenge for a ranking match without the person sending the challenge offering a good number of contribution points or something else of value. This is only for the top 1000 though. If you are ranked below 1000 then you are forced to accept all ranking matches.

Most disciples who tend to cause trouble with the wrong people quickly find themselves fighting till their deaths and they won't be able to refuse the challenges unless they get into the 1000s. There are countless number of untalented disciples that would do nearly anything to get on the good side of those that have a solid background within the sect and killing someone isn't much. Of course, not everyone can challenge just anyone. You must be in the same cultivation realm or 1 step below it if you wish to challenge someone.

So, all in all the information she gained for the price of a single spirit stone wasn't bad at all. She still had 5 left over. Jing decided to finally begin her path into cultivation. She pulled out the Book of Qi cultivation technique, refined whip, multiple martial arts within her storage ring, a spirit stone, and a steel sword. She had quite a few things to do with all the knowledge she's acquired so far. And the first on her list was to update her arsenal.

Jing absorbed the cultivation technique within her body and refined it on very fine. She left it up to her subconscious to refine the book since she didn't have the greatest understanding of cultivation techniques. Typically, her subconscious seems to have greater knowledge than her about most things she refines. Jing doesn't know if it's because of who she was before she woke up here or if it's something else but it doesn't matter too much. It hasn't done her wrong yet.

The book exited from her chest and landed on her lap with a completely new appearance and title. Originally, the title of the book was drawn across the top of the book and had a plain brown look and was quite small in size but now it was thick enough to need both of her hands to carry. The cover was now purple and the title has changed to "Empress of Pain's Tome". Jing smiled at the name and flipped open the book.

She quickly flipped through the large number of pages within the book. It took her around an hour before she completely finished flipping through the entire book and once she was done, she closed her eyes to take in everything she read. Li Li took it upon himself to peacefully rest in Jing's lap as she was doing whatever she was doing and wouldn't wake up until 3 hours later when Jing finally opened her eyes bursting with an entirely new feeling around her.

The aura around her figure would prompt those with weak wills and minds to immediately bow down on the ground and praise her lest they want to suffer the wrath of the endless suffering. Jing felt the qi running through her body as she broke into the first stage of cultivation. She was now a Qi Gatherer at the 1st level. The feeling of qi felt intoxicating to her. She felt like going wild and testing her new strength immediately but quickly reigned herself in. It would not do to lose control over herself. What is she, a child who just got a new toy and can't wait to show it to everyone?

No, she has more self-control than that. She took a deep breath as she explored this new found power within her. According to the tome, this cultivation technique is built on the principal of causing suffering to others and gaining from their pain. To enter the initial realm, she must master torture techniques to the point where she can cause someone to beg for death just by the feeling of her aura and once she can do that she will be able to drain the physical attributes from her opponents and become even stronger. The book gave plenty of interesting new ways of torturing which made Jing quite happy and excited for the future. She was surprised it even showed ways to torture creatures other than humans. In the tome, it's said that if she could reach the completion realm with this technique, just by making eye contact she could even torture the soul and bend it to her will.

Excitement was an understatement for what the current Jing felt right now, but she wasn't finished just yet. That was just first item on the list of things she needed to refine tonight. She reabsorbed the Empress of Pain's Tome and refined it on rough, causing ash to exit from her palm.

'Keeping that around wouldn't be helpful anyway. I've already stored every single page to memory.' Jing thought.

After taking care of that, Jing refined her rock whip on 1:1 to switch it with a regular whip to use around the sect. She couldn't carry a whip that could slice through nearly everything without attracting some attention. Next was the many palm, fist, body, and sword martial arts she got from the bodies during the first test. Guide boy took them to the martial pavilion during their tour and when she went inside, she couldn't find any martial technique for whips! The only fighting martial arts inside were hand, sword, spear, and bow martial arts. She scoffed in ridicule. These cultivators were much too lacking and traditional for her taste.

So, to fix that she decided to make her own martial arts. She just proved she could do it with 914, so there was nothing left to stop her. She grabbed one of the palm martial arts and refined it on 1:1, changing it into a leg martial skill. She figured that cultivators also didn't fight with their legs because she didn't see any leg martial arts that weren't movement arts. Jing reabsorbed the unnamed leg martial art and refined it on very fine, once again leaving it to her subconscious to deal with the vital stuff. The reason why she didn't choose a fist or palm technique was because she wouldn't be able to use those while she was wielding her whip.

While her legs would be completely free to use while she's using her whip to fight. A content smile appeared on her face as the leg martial arts finished its refinement on very fine. She quickly flipped through it and gained the necessary knowledge on how to utilize it and how to practice it before turning it into dust on the rough setting. Jing pulled out her stone pillow and placed it on the bed so that Li Li could rest while she does all this.

Li Li gladly sunk into the unbelievably soft pillow and soon fell into a blissful slumber. Jing got up from the bed and stood up before stretching her body. Jing turned her body to the side, slightly bent her knees, shifted most of her body mass to her back leg, and relaxed her arms and shoulders. After getting into the correct martial stance, she strengthened her core and attacked! Jing let loose a flurry of high-speed kicks with only one leg. The whooshing wind from her kicks was enough to rustle the sleeping Li Li's feathers. It's unknown if those kicks were to land on a person would they shatter the bones on contact or momentarily stun them because of how light and thin her legs look.

Jing sadistically grinned before imagining a human body in front of her and doing the rapid kicks once more but this time focusing on the most fragile parts of the body that wouldn't fatally injure them but would surely cause them to scream out in pain. This technique is called Léijí or lightning kick. It was only the first move out of many within the unnamed leg martial art. Jing would love to practice some more but she still has more things to refine before the morning comes.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.

Alright! We're getting into the actual start of the story! Imagine everything that happened beore this as just a really long prologue. This is where i'll try and bring the xianxia part in the title alive and get into some really juicy stuff.


	17. The End Of The First Night!

Jing grabbed one of the sword martial arts called Furious Wind Blade and her whip. She didn't know if this would work but all the other times she's tried combining things it has worked out fine. Even though she has only made 2 combined objects in total, that's still a good enough track record for her. Jing placed the book in her hand and held her whip in her other as she absorbed them into her body. She cranked the setting on very fine and felt as the two items inside of her were being combined into the way she wanted.

If she wasn't careful, she could accidentally make some sort of weird book whip weapon instead of a whip art like she wanted. The refining process doesn't take more than a few seconds and Jing's wanted item soon exited from her chest. This one also didn't have a title on the front of the cover but was covered entirely of animal fur. Jing opened the book up and quickly stored all the knowledge inside her head. Flipping through page after page, with her enhanced mind it didn't take long for her to completely swallow everything the book had to offer. She soon reinserted the book inside herself and placed it on rough, destroying it entirely.

The whip martial technique she just learned seems quite powerful. On the surface it will look like an average and low-level martial art but to a fighter with good eyes, they will notice that this whip technique isn't as simple as it seems. The way it always seemingly strikes at a vital area, the way the wielder's whip moves and attacks as if it was alive like a breathing snake and could sense the best place to attack, and the way it could strike hard and fast like lightning made this whip technique a superior martial art! Jing would have to practice her control with the whip first though. Only through training and hard work can Jing truly show off the greatness of this skill.

Something she plans to do at a later time as she's still not done yet with the refining for tonight. Just two more items and she can train till the morning. Jing grabbed the spirit stone and held it in her hand. Spirit stones have another use besides just having monetary value. Jing found this out quite some time ago after she took care of those two cultivators from the Dark Moon Gang. Qi can be extracted from the inside of spirit stones and once all the qi is extracted, the spirit stone will crumble into dust. This qi can be used to help cultivators attempt to break through to the next realm or replenish their qi.

Jing had a single reason for bringing out this spirit stone and that was to get rich! Jing took in the spirit stone and refined it on the fine setting. The enhancement she added was to have it create another spirit stone every 5 seconds. With this spirit stone, Jing feels like she will have more money than the entire sect within a few months! Even if it's the lowest valued spirit stone, it will still accumulate in value! Jing could even trade in 100 mortal-ranked spirit stones for 1 stellar-ranked spirit stone at the Exchange Hall.

Jing placed the money-making spirit stone inside her storage ring and left it there till it completely filled the ring up. She'll have to think of something later on what to do when her storage ring gets completely filled up with spirit stones. Her current thoughts right now were to randomly bury the large supply of the spirit stones somewhere in the sect and anonymously let a rumor flow throughout the sect about it. A sinister smile slowly showed on Jing's face as she thought of the resulting chaos due to something like that.

'That would be quite the entertaining spectacle to watch...' She thought while making a mental note to definitely do that later.

Jing grabbed the final item to refine tonight, the steel sword. She planned to use this to replace her whip. Her whip from before wasn't really working out for her. When she first made that whip, she was only planning to use it to defend herself from any wild creatures. But this time she has a different idea in mind, something a bit more suited towards her personality.

Jing refined the sword on the 1:1 setting and replaced it with an iron whip. She then reabsorbed it and upgraded it on very fine. Adding a few new anomalous properties to it that will make fighting so much sweeter. This new whip will cause those to get hit by it to be wracked with an insufferable amount of pain. Even if it's a slight cut across the cheek, it'll feel like lava is bubbling beneath their cheek. But that's not the only thing she added, anyone who is hit by this whip won't be able to faint or relieve their pain no matter what they try and do unless Jing herself personally grants them reprieve from the pain. Jing can mentally control whenever she wants this effect to activate.

This is so that she can use this whip normally when she's out in public. It wouldn't benefit her to not have a way of deactivating the special properties of this weapon.

"I'm glad I got SCP-914 as my first SCP. The resourcefulness of this ability is absolutely overwhelming." She giggled.

Now that Jing was finished refining everything she needed to refine, she spent the rest of the night practicing her whip and leg martial arts. Without any need to rest, Jing was perfectly fine training throughout the night until dawn. She didn't choose to practice her cultivation technique though. This is because Jing didn't know how long the average cultivator takes to break through the first realm into the second realm and she sure wasn't going to bring attention to herself when there is no need to. In public, she's an untalented cultivator and plans to keep it that way.

She was sure it wouldn't take her long to break through into Qi Gathering stage 2. Right now, she felt like she was overfilled and bursting with qi! The barrier inside her dantian felt like it could tear from the slightest touch of qi from Jing so she didn't plan on pressuring it until the time was right. Jing wasn't sure if it was because of the Empress of Pain's Tome or the fact that she refined a cultivation technique on very fine that her qi was so powerful and formidable. If she was to be honest, it was difficult to control herself from choosing to disguise herself and going around to terrorize her martial brothers and sisters in the middle of the night just to test her strength. But how weak would she look if she let a little power go to her head so soon? Hmph, she'd rather serve as Bing's maid for a day than allow herself to be look so pathetic.

While she was thinking all of this, she was also practicing her leg technique that she named Flowering Domination. In the midst of her practicing, Jing heard multiple noises outside her humble abode and figured that it was morning time. She stopped practicing and took the time to pet the peacefully resting Li Li. He didn't need to rest either but something about that rock pillow just forces you to drift off into dreamland. Even she wasn't exempt from its overwhelming power.

Jing's first plan of business was to go get her monthly spirit stones. After that she'll take a little stroll through the sect. She is going to be living here for a while so, it would do good to know of her the situation inside the sect. After taking a look at how the sect is run, she'll then decide on what she plans to do because besides her current mission given by the system, she has no real set plan for her future here yet.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.

Alright boys and girls? Next chapter we will see exactly how the Golden Serpent Sect lets its disciples run around, get a glimpse of a few important future allies, and either some hijinks with Bing or Jing ordering around Bing to do some tasks for her. I haven't decided yet but there is one thing i'm sure of. You will get small scenes including important future allies for Jing!


	18. It's Time For A Takeover!

Jing left Li Li inside to rest as she headed out to the Exchange Hall for her monthly stones. Even if she didn't need the stones personally, it would certainly cause suspicion if anyone decided to investigate her later on. If she was sending someone out to find information about someone, the first thing she would tell her men to do is to take notice of any abnormalities or uncommon actions they do. Why would anyone not take their monthly spirit stones? Having an excess amount of spirit stones is never a bad thing unless you are too weak to keep hold of it. The only reason why someone would not go and get their spirit stones is if they had something to hide of course!

Jing did have something to hide and didn't need anyone finding out till she had a stable foundation and the strength necessary to protect her secrets. And speaking of strength... Jing was currently watching someone without sufficient strength right in front of her show one of the outcomes of lacking power. Jing was a bit annoyed since they were having this show right in front of the Exchange Hall but decided to wait and watch till they got out of the way.

"Hurry up and give up the stones you blind fool." One of the youths demanded.

"An old withered fossil like yourself has no need for these anyway. Do you really believe you can still breakthrough at your age?"

"Hahaha! You've already missed your time for greatness. You'd be better off turning into dust already."

"Here you go, but may I be selfish enough to keep just a single stone for myself young lords?" The uncle asked in a polite tone with his eyes closed.

"Hey look at this! His eyes are already useless and body withdrawn of all potential and yet he still believes that he can fly into the heavens as a cultivator!" The main leader of the four youths cackled as if he just heard the greatest joke of the century as he walked closer to the uncle.

A resounding sharp slap echoed throughout the area as the blind uncle was now on the ground gripping his cheek. A surprised look appeared on his face before slowly transitioning into a sullen and hopeless one. He held out all his spirit stones and the slappy youth snatched them from his palm with an arrogant smile on his face. He then walked away happily with his little group.

Jing stared into the eyes of the hunched over old man. She didn't see a single look of hatred, anger, or any type of negative emotion inside him. Either the old man is one of the most forgiving people on the planet or exceptional at hiding his emotions. But for what reason would he have to do that?

Jing looked around to see that no one else was paying special attention to this little situation. They glanced over before going back to doing whatever they were doing as if this event wasn't anything special or worth causing a fuss over. Jing was confused to say the least. Isn't a sect like an educational institution? Is this place really so lawless to where such harsh bullying can go without a care in the world?

Jing did something that was quite unlike her and thought optimistically for once. Maybe that was just a rare situation where none of the elders or disciplinary members were around to punish those people because none of them saw it. Jing didn't care about this because she felt sympathetic towards the uncle or the humiliating experience he just went through, but the fact that the sect possibly allowed things like this to happen. There's no way this could be a normal affair.

Jing walked on pass the uncle and secretly dropped a spirit stone behind her before vanishing inside the Exchange Hall. She heard a loud voice callout from outside the building and promptly sped up her pace into the line of cultivators waiting to get their monthly stones. It didn't take long for the uncle to come inside and frantically look around with a distinctive red mark on his cheek. Jing didn't even need to try and hide.

Jing did have to give the uncle credit though. He didn't give up on looking for the owner of the spirit stone for a while. He was so dedicated that he even received a few hits for bothering people.

The reason why she gave him the spirit stone wasn't because she pitied him. It was actually because she was interested in him. For a man his age to be treated like that without a single ripple of anger or hatred is something special. If Jing didn't just see it for herself, she would have actually believed that it was impossible. That's if he isn't acting, but Jing was almost certain he wasn't hiding his emotions.

She might revisit the old man at a later date. He could be useful to her. But for now, she's got her monthly stones, it's time to go. She left the Exchange Hall while the uncle was still asking people who dropped their stone. She was now on her way to the Martial Pavilion to borrow some martial techniques or at least look as if she was going to. She still needed to get an auxiliary, body, and movement martial arts but with her current strength didn't see the need for them quite yet. If she was to rank herself right now, she'd say she's strong enough to contest with Gong Jun from the first portion of the recruitment test. But that was just an estimate, she wouldn't truly know unless she battled him.

Jing soon arrived at the entrance to the Martial Pavilion. She walked up the stairs and inside the building to meet with the elder behind the counter.

"May I take out a few martial arts?" She asked

"You have 5 minutes. You can only explore the first floor. You have to return the books within a week or you will face disciplinary punishment." He told her.

"O...Okay.." She responded with fright in her voice at his strict tone and look of disgust at her.

Jing walked away and started to look through martial skills.

'Eight Tigers Maneuvering, Splitting Water Palm, Iron Body, Floating Fairy Steps... Quite a diverse choice of options I got here.'

All of these martial arts sounded pretty much the same to her. Their names sounded big, impressive, and showy but Jing thought this sounded kind of fake. Well, it doesn't really matter to her. It's not like she's going to actually learn these mortal ranked skills in the first place. She just needs to take some out. And if anyone questions why she isn't using them in battles, she'll just say she hasn't comprehended them yet.

After getting what she needed, she started to head back to the librarian to check out these 3 books: Silent Breath, an auxiliary martial art, Jade Skin, a body technique, and Floating Fairy Steps. But on her way to the counter, she heard the whispering of two senior disciples on the upper floors.

"Have you heard about that arrogant outer disciple that's all the talk inside the inner court?"

"You don't mean Hu Tao do you?"

"Yeah him! I heard that he's even managed to defeat and embarrass some of the disciples from the inner court! Even though he has yet to reach the Qi Consolidation realm!"

"He's surely a genius. Only those blessed by the heavens can skip levels and realms to defeat other cultivators."

"You know what he just said yesterday?"

"No, what!?"

"Hu Tao claimed that if anyone managed to best him in one on one combat, he will be willing to serve as their slave for the rest of his life!"

"Such arrogance! What about the outer court disciples who are within the top ten on the rankings?"

"They aren't powerful enough to best Hu Tao. Even though he's only ranked 10 in the outer court rankings, not even the #1 ranker can defeat him without serious injuries. He's also not willing to fight seriously with Hu Tao because he's known as a fighting maniac."

"Fighting maniac?"

"He fights every battle as if his life is on the life and doesn't hold back no matter who he is fighting. Instead of fighting like a human, he fights more like a wild beast!"

"How scary! Let's make sure we avoid him!"

"We don't have anything to worry about. I heard a rumor that he's interested in the same side..."

"No way!"

Jing has heard enough gossip and checked out the martial arts. On her way home, Jing was suddenly another witness to rampant bullying on sect grounds! Although this time she got to appear in the middle of it, instead of seeing it from the beginning. The incident was happening in front of someone's front yard.

An orange haired attractive beauty was knocked to the ground by one of the 5 girls surrounding her. Blood was leaking from her lip and her face was twisted in rage and defiance as she gripped the spirit stone with all of strength.

"Don't think you'll get away with this...!" She groaned.

"Know your place trash! The Yue family is nothing anymore, you are just a lowly bug that is meant to grovel beneath our feet."

The Yue girl could only grit her teeth and glare at the group of girls.

"Still got that annoying look in your eyes! Girls get her!"

The girls began kicking and stomping the orange haired girl on the ground. Jing watched as the girl didn't stop fighting back even when it would invite more trouble and pain to her. She bit, clawed, and pinched any piece of skin she could get a hold of until she was beaten to the point where she couldn't move anymore.

"Crazy freak!" The head bandit screamed as she and her group of bandits left with more injuries than they probably expected.

Once again, Jing saw no one raising any fuss of such a situation happening in broad day light. If anything, such behavior seemed to be encouraged. Anyone she saw passing by who saw the scene either looked on in entertainment or quickly walked by without a care in the world. This... could be used to her advantage...

A discreet smile appeared on her face as she walked over to the barely conscious girl. She looked around to make sure no one noticed her before dragging the girl into her home. Jing heard some mumbling coming from her but ignored it as she dragged her on her rug. She then crouched down and lifted up the girl's chin. She stared into her scorching bright orange eyes.

"Eat this."

Jing slipped a refined recovery pill inside that would completely restore the girl's body back to normal. The effect was basically instant as the girl's wounds healed up in seconds. Her eyes widened in shock but Jing kept her hold on the girl's chin to refocus her attention back to her.

"What's your name?" Jing asked.

"Ying Yue... And get your hands off of me!"

She attempted to slap Jing's face to release her but only managed to swipe at the air as Jing grasped the side of her face.

"How would you like to gain the strength necessary to restore your fallen family and pay back the debts of those that embarrassed you?" Jing asked with an even wider smile.

Jing could see the slight waver in her soul from the question.

"Don't mock me... You're nothing more than just a 1st ranked Qi Gatherer. How could you possibly give me enough strength to do such a thing?" She tried to spit in Jing's face.

Jing let go of her face and let her drop to the ground, only managing to spit onto her own rug. She then got up and stared down at the orange haired feisty mess of a girl.

"I will only ask you once. Join me and you will gain all the power you need and more... but the only catch is you must serve me loyally for the rest of your life..." She held out her hand.

It looked as if a dark purple aura was being emitted from Jing's figure. Her terrifying qi was being subtly released from her body, unnerving Ying Yue even more. It must be known that Ying Yue is a Qi Gatherer at the fourth level you know! While Jing is only at the first level! Gone was the plain and unassuming look that she always had. What took its place was something more ominous, frightening, and enticing...

* * *

Yue didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. But for some reason, her instincts were telling her to grab onto that hand. That hand that's promising everything she's always wanted to hear ever since she's joined the Golden Serpent Sect. Nothing about this situation made sense to her! Who is this mysterious girl?! What kind of dreadful cultivation technique is she practicing that would scare me!? Even my grandfather's sky-ranked cultivation skill doesn't give me the same feeling as this girl's!

'Everything about this is confusing and wrong... but... if I say no... Will I even manage to escape with my life?' Yue wondered.

* * *

Jing felt Yue place her hand into hers.

**[New Ally Gained!]**

**[Name: Ying Yue]**

**[Rank: Qi Gathering 4]**

**[Occupation: Martial Artist]**

**[Techniques: Green Crystal Blade (Intermediate Realm), Blazing Steps of Mystery (Intermediate Realm), Physique of the Inferno (Initial Realm), etc]**

**[Cultivation Method: Burning Eruption (Initial Realm)]**

**[Loyalty: 70% (Doesn't entirely trusts you but trusts her instincts that trust you. Is curious about your background.)]**

"You've made a smart choice Ying. If you refused, I don't know what I would've done with you." Jing said nonchalantly.

Ying couldn't respond.

"I'll give you a few things tomorrow. Make sure you're free. For now, I will return home. What I saw today has really opened my eyes, I have a lot to think about."

Jing walked outside the home and returned home. As she walked in the door, she almost expected Li Li to charge into her. But the little rascal was just doing a happy little shake on the bed once he saw her. What was she expecting...? He isn't a dog.

She did play with him in the meantime though. He's still just a baby after all. Babies need attention no matter how super smart they are. And she is his mother. What kind of mother would neglect caring and playing with her child? A terrible one that's who.

So, as Jing played with Li Li, she began to think of what exactly she wanted to do in this sect. After her meeting with Ying, she's got a general idea of what she wants to accomplish inside the sect. She's going to take over the Golden Serpent Sect from the bottom and fix this lackluster and pathetic excuse for an organization. Her inner feelings didn't feel comfortable in a group with such terrible management and rules.

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Take over the Outer Court either by number of supporters, strength, or influence.]**

**[Rewards: 3 epic tickets, ****Soul Lantern****, Restriction on Qi Consolidation Realm will be unlocked.]**

A small smile appeared on Jing's face. It's nice that the system is on board with her plan and is actively encouraging her with rewards. She may not know what goal the system has, but as long as it doesn't directly go against her, its fine. But she will need a few things if she plans on taking over the Outer Court. First is information, second is a disguise, third is manpower, and fourth is strength.

'Luckily I know a person who might know a lot about the sect... So let's start with him first...'

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was planning on adding a part with Bing but I'll just save that for next chapter.

Next chapter we'll see what kind of gifts Jing will give to Ying Yue! Bing had got a really good shield but can you guess what kind of weapon she'll give to Ying? Don't forget how aggressive and fighty she is!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	19. A House Visit! A Present!

A barrage of knocks rapped on the door of a sleeping youth. The door was shaking from the impacts of the hits and looked as if it was going to break down if this continued. From the sound of the knocks, it seems that whoever is outside has urgent business with the person inside. Surprisingly, it seems the loud knocking isn't enough to wake the slumbering disciple. He was just peacefully sleeping with a wide silly grin on his face. His hand was scratching his big belly as he murmured the words inside his wonderful dream.

"I will always love you my beautiful gentle sweet wife... Your tits are perfect just the way they are..."

Bang! The resting youth instantly awakened as his front door was just broken into. He grabbed his shield laying by his bed and stared at the intruders who barged into his home.

"Who... who are you!? What do you want!?" Bing asked with his heart beating rapidly.

"Did you not hear us knocking!? Would it take the roar of a beast in the Qi Consolidation stage to wake you!?"

An embarrassed blush appeared on Bing's face.

"I apologize. I'm a heavy sleeper... but was it necessary to break down my door? I'm sure I've never offended any of you." Bing said while looking at their faces.

A grin appeared on the head intruder.

"You may not have offended us personally, but we heard a little rumor that you've killed a member of our Huan clan."

"And we need to teach you a lesson for not putting our Huan clan in your eyes fatty."

Bing has realized that these thugs have only come to cause trouble. They aren't interested in any excuse or logical explanation for his actions. The only thing they want is to hurt and humiliate him. It's a very irritating reason to be awoken from such a sweet blissful dream.

"My fellow martial brothers... Is there any need to have such violence between us? If need be, I can get on my knees and apologize to all of you." Bing said with fear in his voice while getting in front of the four men.

An even wider smile appeared on their faces as they relished in bullying the weak-sounding Bing. He was only a 2nd stage Qi Gatherer while they were in the 3rd and 4th stage. There was no possible way they could see Bing getting out of doing exactly what they want and they loved it. The leader of the four pointed to the ground.

"Well? Hurry up and bow pig. We're waiting." The men started to laugh as they watched Bing slowly lower himself to the ground.

They still planned to beat him half to death for possibly killing one of family members. It would be a good idea to use him as a message to the other new disciples that just joined that their clan is not one to mess with. Dealing with this fatty can only bring benefits to them, why wouldn't they try and increase their influence within the sect by doing this?

But before Bing's knees reached the ground, his body suddenly buffed up! The fat that was present all over his body turned into pure muscle. The strength radiating through his body was enough to squash any 2nd stage Qi Gatherer with just his pinky! All this strength going through Bing's body was aimed towards the thugs invading his home. He was in crouching position with his shield faced towards them. He grinned as looks of confusion and mockery appeared on the Huan clan members' faces.

"Are you seriously planning on resisting fatty? You might as well-" His words were cut off by Bing's shout.

"Swift Devil!" He yelled as his body was being strengthened by Devil's Physique and Devil's Arms.

The sound of wind breaking was the last thing the Huan clan bullies heard before feeling the worse pain they've ever felt in their lives. Bing crashed into the lined up men like a bull charging to gore a predator. They were launched outside of Bing's home and spiraled across his front yard. They felt like all of their bones were simultaneously shattered and their organs were upside down and all over the place.

"I can't feel my... anything..."

"Mother... I'm not ready to die yet..."

The Huan clan youths could only helplessly twitch on the ground. All control over their body was gone and their mind was jumbled. Wasn't that fatty just a Qi Gatherer at the second level? How did they end up in this situation? They might not be talented within the sect and their martial arts isn't anything special but shouldn't their cultivation difference be enough? And if that wasn't enough, they outnumbered him as well! The only thing going through their brains right now was regret for choosing the wrong person to mess with.

Unforunately for these disciples, the difference in strength within the Qi Gathering realm doesn't really start until 7th and 9th stage. Before that though, the only difference is in pure strength. Breaking through the realms in the Qi Gathering realm will only increase your strength by 200 jin every breakthrough. Things are different in the Qi Consolidation stage though. The strength of one's fist becomes less important unless the cultivator is focusing on becoming a body cultivator instead of a qi cultivator.

"I was taught not to leave future troubles by my master. You can only blame yourselves for trying to bully and take advantage of the weak when you're only as strong as this." Bing stated as he slowly swaggered outside his home with killing intent radiating around him.

The meek and peaceful looking fatty from before turn into a terrifying behemoth of death and ruthlessness! One by one, Bing's thick fingers slowly grabbed hold of their heads and with a ruthless snap. The lights within their eyes faded forever. They tried to plead and beg for Bing to spare them after witnessing their leader perish but Bing was not dissuaded in the slightest. He isn't so dumb to believe these types of people will let him off so easily. If anything, being crippled would be the most forgiving of things they probably planned to do with him.

After finishing off the last person, Bing dragged all the bodies back inside his home. He still had some business left with these four. He checked to see if they had any valuables on their bodies and could only frown in annoyance. They were poor! Not even a single spirit stone or anything on them!

"How could these guys have the gall to bully anyone being as poor as they are!?" Bing asked in astonishment.

"Thankfully, I have a technique that allows me to gain something from you all." He snickered.

Bing placed his hand on the chest of one of the corpses. He began breathing in a deep sinister tone and activated his Devil's Arms technique. Normally when using this auxiliary martial arts, Bing's body would use his fat to create a secondary pair of arms under his arms and strengthen them with qi. But this wasn't the only way of using this technique. It would be a mockery of a sky-ranked martial arts if it was only able to make him grow arms. The name of these martial arts isn't just because it sounds cool either. The user's personality will gradually become more twisted and devilish as they practice these techniques to the peak before they transform into a complete devil in all but appearance.

Bing's hand gradually started morphing a mouth in the middle of his palm. It had razor sharp teeth and a long forked tongue inside the mouth. The hand licked the flesh of the corpse and stabbed into it with its tongue. The skin, muscle, tissue, and all began to be sucked into the mouth of the hand. Bing's strength was being improved the more his hand ate. If he were to check his natural body's strength, he would notice that he's already left the threshold of a 2nd stage Qi Gatherer and firmly planted himself at the start of the 3rd stage with his body alone!

The only things left unsucked by the hand were the bones, blood, and clothes. It was a grisly disgusting sight for any normal person but Bing was not disturbed all that much.

For one, he had complete control over the hand. It was somewhat similar to having a pet and being the owner of said pet. It had its own desires and feelings but completely obeyed him. Two, the world of cultivating isn't something that he'll be able to get far in if he can't stomach something like this. And lastly, it would be a waste of his martial arts if he didn't use every opportunity to get as strong as he can.

Bing slurped up the other 3 bodies and was left with 4 skeletons and a large puddle of blood inside his home. The smell was a bit much and Bing had to pinch his nose as he brought his bone shield he got from the demoness over the blood. He dipped the bottom of the shield in the blood and watched as the blood gushed forward inside the bones.

"What kind of shield is this anyway...? I've never seen such a strange weapon before or heard of anything like a weapon that drinks the blood of its victims." Bing muttered to himself as he watched the bones on his shield become glossier and whiter.

"Just what kind of place could produce such a mysterious person...?" He wondered as he carefully slid his finger across the rim of his shield.

"I should go see if they have any shield martial techniques inside the Martial Pavilion." He decided as he left his home and went towards the library.

'Fighting with this thing feels so different from using a sword. It's so much easier to fight with and less stressful. At first, I thought the demoness was just being cruel to give me only a shield to battle with but as I got used to using it in battle, I slowly felt more comfortable and familiar with it. Far more than I ever had with the blade even though I was taught since young the ways of the sword.'

Bing arrived inside the Martial Pavillion and walked towards the counter.

"Excuse me Elder Zhong, I was wondering if there are any shield martial arts inside that I could borrow." Bing asked.

Elder Zhong's eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

"Of course we do! You think that the Golden Serpent Sect would be lacking any kinds of martial arts?! What a stupid question child. Of course we have..." He suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech.

Elder Zhong suddenly exploded in anger after realizing what Bing just asked.

"A SHIELD!? Why in the world would anyone use a shield?! Are you making fun of me boy?! Get out of my sight this instant before I force you out of it!" He roared.

Bing quickly scrammed outside the library after unintentionally angering the elder. He heard laughter from inside the library most likely aimed at him and slowly grew bitter.

"It's just an innocent question. No need to raise such a fuss about it. If you didn't have any shield arts you could've just said so." Bing curled his lip. "A sect as great as the Golden Serpent Sect and they don't even have a single measly shield technique. How pathetic." he muttered as he looked around his surroundings.

Maybe the demoness could help him somehow... With her mysterious background, she probably knows of a few shield martial arts or at least if they exist! Then all of a sudden, memories of Jing physically assaulting him ran through his mind. His body shivered and him wanting to ask the she-demon of anything was halted in its tracks.

"I've been doing fine without a shield art so far... I'm sure I can go a little bit longer without asking the Empress for help just yet..." He nervously chuckled as he went towards the Mission Hall to work on some tasks for contribution points.

* * *

A young orange haired girl was pacing back and forth inside her home. This young girl was Ying Yue. She was close to tearing her hair out over the crazy deal she made yesterday. She wasn't completely against the idea of serving the girl and that's the part that was making her so crazy! She didn't know what kind of background that girl has nor does she know anything about her. She doesn't even know her name! Even if her life was at stake, she would never willing become someone's slave.

It would be easy to just try and avoid the girl or refuse to become her ally but this went against everything she stood for. If she would promise to do something, she will do it no matter what. What kind of person would she be if she went against her word? One that isn't fit to revive and lead the Yue family into prosperity again that's for sure. She let out an exhausted sigh.

Stressing over this situation isn't going to make anything better. Might as well charge forward and deal with the problems as they come. Not much else she can do at this point. Ying also doubted she could best the girl even though she was 3 small realms ahead of her in cultivation. The qi she felt from her was no joke. It felt like a bottomless ocean was standing before her and she was nothing but a small sailboat rocking on top of that ocean. Being crushed into nothingness would be the only outcome if she tried to fight against her.

Ying has never backed down from a challenge. No matter how many enemies there are, no matter how talented they are, and no matter how strong they are, she wouldn't surrender in willpower! But can you even fight against something like that...? Something that made you feel as if you were nothing but an ant in comparison to it. Even when she witnessed her grandfather facing off against another Qi Transformation stage cultivator, she didn't feel as helpless as she did under the qi of that girl.

It's inhuman. It's impossible. She's a monster...

Knock! Knock!

Ying jumped up like a startled kitten. Who would be at her door? She doesn't have any close friends. Could it be her...? A shiver went through Ying's spine at the thought of the girl. Her feet were rooted to the floor and she couldn't move an inch. The fear radiating through her mind was enough to overpower her body remembering that feel of that person's qi.

Another knock on the door riled Ying from her frighten state.

"How pathetic! Come on! You are Ying Yue of the Yue family! Fear is nothing to a member of the Yue family! Fear is nothing but pain leaving the body! Move!" She told herself.

Her feet unwillingly freed themselves from the floor and she walked towards the door. She slowly turned the handle of the door and outside it, stood a pure white owl with a storage ring in its beak. She looked around to see if there was anyone else and as she did the owl loudly hoo'd at her, bringing her attention back to it.

It looked somewhat annoyed as it threw the ring at her and flew away. She caught the ring in her hand and went back inside her house to find out what was inside. She sat on her bed and sent some mental energy inside the ring to see what was inside. Ying nearly choked when she saw what was inside.

"What kind of gift is this!?" She screamed.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just noticed something this chapter. Our current lead character's names are Jing, Bing, and Ying.

Just so you know it was completely coincidental that these names are this way.

But anyway, I know i said i would show what kind of gift Jing would give to Ying but the first half with Bing was longer than i thought it would be. Since it was longer the bit on Ying's part was shorter than i orginally intended it to be this chapter. I kind of go for a 2,500 word limit per chapter if not that then certainly 1,500 words at the least.

Next chapter we'll be with Ying and then back with Jing!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	20. Doing Errands and Recruitment!

"Just what kind of monster have I gotten myself involved with...?" Ying asked herself as she pulled out all the items within the storage ring onto her floor.

A heavy crash sounded out as her house shook from the weight of the items or item she should say. Ying had full confidence now that the girl she met yesterday was no ordinary person. Besides the strange abnormal qi, what she has just been given is enough to prove that. In front of her laid multiple objects, the first one to catch her eye was also the one staring back at her and caused her house to shake from falling onto her rug.

It was a colossal monstrous sword! Its length was taller than any man. The size of it made it seem as if it was meant for hunting dragons and giants! Just staring at the blade, made it felt like her heart was already severed in two by the curved sword. But the craziest thing was the human eye fixed at the base of the sword staring directly at her as if it was alive!

Her eyes were forced to meet directly with the sword's eye.

The strange abomination, that which should not be but is, the unexplainable.

Her soul felt captured in its gaze. Being caressed and gently molded the longer she stared. Ying's body moved without her permission.

Before she knew it, her hand was gripped around the sword's handle while the eye was still staring deep into her inner palace. It was studying her, learning from her soul. Ying attempted to release her hand from the sword's handle but her body only strengthened her grip on it. It was only a matter of time before she lifted this cursed sword and lost all control over her body.

But what she expected wasn't how things played out.

"I can't lift it..." She murmured.

Her thin delicate arms couldn't even make the sword budge. She willed all the qi within her body and tried again to lift the demonic looking sword but still no movement.

"YOU PIECE OF JUNK! WHY ARE YOU SO HEAVY!? DIDN'T YOU WANT TO TAKE OVER MY BODY OR SOMETHING!?" She exploded in embarrassment.

She felt the sword's presence around her soul feeling embarrassed about its weight. An extra vein appeared on her forehead.

"YOU'RE SAD THAT I CALLED YOU HEAVY!? I'M A FOURTH STAGE QI GATHERER AND I CAN'T EVEN GET YOU TO BUDGE! I'M THE ONE WHO FEELS LIKE CRYING IN THIS SITUATION!"

Trying to lift the giant slab of iron forged in the shape of a blade took all of her energy. She couldn't even stand up and was now sitting on the floor with her hand still gripped around the sword's handle. She looked over at the other "gifts" she was given and honestly hoped they were nothing like this thing.

Ying felt a wave of sadness wash over her from the sword.

"Oh, shut up!"

Thankfully, the rest of the objects inside the ring seemed normal. A white letter, 35 spirit stones, and a book. She grabbed the letter first and opened it up to read it.

'Gather these things for me. I will need a mask, a basic talisman kit, a book on formations and talismans, and a watering can. Use the stones I gave you to pay for these items and keep the rest for yourself.

The weapon and the book are so I can stay true on my part. With those two, gaining the strength you wish is only a matter of time. So, make sure you don't disappoint me.

Signed Jing'

The final words of the message sent shivers through her body. The most positive outcome she could imagine from those words was the sword and sword art being taken away from her. She didn't wanna think of the scarier possibilities.

Not to mention that she can just fork out 35 spirit stones without any issue. It would take her 7 months to get that amount unless she took on only dangerous tasks for 4 or 5 months. Ying didn't know if it was a good thing or worrying thing that Jing was rich. It just added more mystery to her background. She was only a 1st stage Qi Gatherer. Shouldn't she use these stones to quickly cultivate through the ranks?

"Jing huh... The name isn't as mysterious and frightening as I thought it would be. I better get started on getting this stuff for her then. No point in delaying the inevitable."

Ying got up from the floor with her hand still gripped around the sword. She glared at the sword and her hand. The sword sent feelings of happiness and excitement. It seemed excited to be going out with her.

"Are you out of your mind!? I would look like an idiot trying to lug your heavy self around this place!" She yelled at it.

Ying tried to release her grip from the blade but soon felt a strange feeling go through her hand and spread throughout the rest of her body. She stared suspiciously at the eye sword. It looked at her happily and expectantly as if it wanted her to try something. She tried to lift the sword again while using all of her qi and noticed that she managed to slightly lift it off the ground this time. She used both of her hands to try and drag it behind her.

The sword was constantly sending waves of glee at her as she just proved she could carry it around.

"I move as slow as a freaking turtle! Just because I can drag you around now doesn't mean I should!"

Ying was barraged by the eye sword's feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and sorrow. She angrily let out a sigh. She could swear she even saw a tear fall its eye.

"What are you a freaking child...? Fine, you can come with me but you better keep doing whatever you did earlier to make me lift you. If I'm gonna be carrying you around, you better make it worth my time." Ying conceded to the child-like blade.

And once again she felt the happiness of the sword trying to drown her. She rolled her eyes and unconsciously let out a small smile. Ying grabbed the letter to remember what she needed to buy and put it in her pocket. She left the spirit stones inside the storage ring and started dragging the heavy hunk of metal outside her door very slowly.

Her muscles were strained to the limit as she dragged the blade through the sect. Sweat visibly flowed down her body as she used all the power within her body to lug this thing around. Looks of ridicule and laughter plagued her as she headed towards the Exchange Hall.

"Hahahaha! Look at that dumb girl! Are you putting on a show!?"

"If a normal sword isn't good enough for you, why don't you try something more ladylike!?"

"BWAHAHAHA! I CAN'T BREATHE! CAN YOU EVEN CALL THAT A SWORD?!"

Ying would've already decapitated everyone making fun of her by now if she could even raise this stupid blade higher than the heel of her foot. Giving up wasn't in her blood and she sure as hell wouldn't start now. Even if her arms stopped working, she'll carry this damn thing in her teeth if she has to.

But this thing was full of mystery and abilities, so it looks like it wouldn't come to something as drastic as that. Ying found out that when she was nearing her body's limit, the sword would send that strange energy into her, giving her newfound strength and power to keep trekking forward. The increase was gradual and slow but the sword made her feel as long as she kept her grip around its handle, it wouldn't stop coming.

And isn't this exactly what she wanted? Sure, she'd like if it was more of an instant noticeable boost in power but Ying isn't one to shy away from hard work and painful things. Especially if it can give her the power she needs for her goals. Her cultivation technique was one known for its dangerous possible side effect of burning the user into ash if they couldn't control the wildness of the fire qi brought forward by the technique.

But despite that dangerous drawback, it would give the user nearly unmatchable power if they could master the fierce uncontrollable fire qi. Ying is only in the initial realm with the technique and could only use the fire qi to ignite herself at this stage. Once she reaches the intermediate realm, she'll be capable of unleashing burning flames at a distance on her enemies. Only cultivators at the Qi Consolidation stage and above can use qi to attack from a distance which is why this cultivation method is considered to be above the rest during the Qi Gathering realm if you didn't include the possible drawbacks..

So, Ying who chose such a vicious cultivation method can be said to have great courage and a fearless spirit or simply a fool who doesn't know her limits. Only time will be able to tell which kind of person she will turn out to be.

"Finally... I made it to the Exchange Hall..." She said with relief in her voice as she haggardly caught her breath.

She flipped her sword onto its side so that its sharp tip wouldn't cut into the floor of the building and slowly but surely dragged herself inside. She received even more stares and whispers but ignored them as she was halfway finished with her errand. The snide remarks and mocking laughs aren't something new to her. Xiaohui and her little pack of bitches try and make her life a living hell every week.

Just wait till she's gained enough strength to get payback. She'll show those arrogant pieces of crap why you shouldn't mess with a Yue! The Yue family doesn't know the meaning of forgiveness! And to think all of this started because of a stupid boy. She would laugh at this situation if her life wasn't made a living hell because of it.

Cheng Chi. The 5th ranked disciple in the outer court and also the boyfriend of Xiaohui. One day, while she was getting her monthly stones, apparently she caught the eye of Cheng Chi. Xiaohui claims that he was staring at her ass and Xiaohui has placed her on her shit list out of jealousy. After that day, she and her pack of bitches have bullied her ever since.

Thinking back on it just riled Ying up even further.

"GOD DAMN IT, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BE SO HEAVY?!" She screamed.

Her mood calmed down after letting out some of her bottled-up emotions and she step by step made it inside the general store inside the Exchange Hall. Inside were items similar to those that would be sold by normal mortals. Books, clothes, accessories, household items, furniture, and more. Ying went over in the accessories area and looked for a mask that would perfectly match her image of Jing. There were some pretty general and standard masks but the one Ying chose was much different from the rest.

The mask she picked was a demon's mask. It had two large overgrown canine jutting from its mouth, red skin, two small horns on its forehead and a wide evil grin.

"It's perfect!"

Ying grabbed the mask and a watering can to purchase at the counter. She paid 1 spirit stone for both and placed them in her storage ring. She then traveled to the Formations and Talismans store 2 shops down 10 minutes later. She asked for a brush, 5 jars of spirit ink, and 100 talisman slips.

"I can give you the first 3 items but I cannot give you a spell book. Only Array elders can give spell books out. You would have to apprentice under an elder that specializes in talismans if you want to be taught spells and formations."

Ying didn't expect something like this. She also doubted Jing knew about this rule either or else why would she ask for her to buy it when she couldn't. Ying was a cultivator on the martial path so, she knew little of the ways of an array master. She fought some from time to time on the ranking but they usually didn't pose much of a challenge towards her to get much of an idea on them besides being helpless and weak.

"Is there any other way I could purchase spells?" She asked.

"You could exchange for them with contribution points."

"Goodbye."

Ying immediately left after paying for the brush, ink, and paper. She could not afford to use her contribution points on mortal-ranked spells that costed 10 contribution points each. She only had 100 this month! Maybe if she took on some dangerous tasks for the sect, she could save up for next month but for now she'll just tell Jing what the clerk told her.

It took Ying almost an hour before she returned home. Before she walked in through her door, she noticed that the door was slightly cracked open. Her grip tightened around her sword handle.

'I swear if those bitches broken into my home, I will cut off their legs!'

Ying gathered power in her legs and kicked open her door. Only to see the familiar figure from this morning staring at her from on top of her table.

"Hoo?" It cocked its head completely horizontally

A relieved sigh exited from her lips. She wouldn't actually be able to back up her words from earlier if they really were in her home.

"It's just Jing's messenger bird."

Ying noticed that it had another item in its mouth. It was a letter. She opened up the letter and read it.

'Place what I told you to buy inside the storage ring and give it to Li Li. He will bring it to me.

Signed Jing'

Ying did as the letter commanded and was left inside her room with the eye sword, 15 spirit stones, and the sword art. The sword was staring at her and then at the sword book and then back at her as if it was expecting her to start training with it right this instance.

"Are you crazy?! I can barely lift you off the ground right now! Forget practicing how to use you, I can't even wield you like a normal blade! And you better not get sad! We'll talk about practicing the sword art once I can finally wield you like a normal blade." Ying sternly said.

The sword eye couldn't help but be a little bit sad after being yelled at but it wasn't too sad. It was happy Ying wasn't planning on throwing it away and was still holding it while cultivating with one of the spirit stones.

* * *

It was late at night, the moonlight was reflecting off the surface of the pond. The water was shimmering in a beautiful light, exposing all the fish in a serene divine-like light.

Plop!

A fishing lure fell inside the water with squirming bait pierced onto the hook. The echoing splash caused all the fish to quickly dash a few meters away from the source of the impact. About 3 seconds later, they all forgot about it and one of the fish decided to investigate the flailing insect trapped on the hook. And the only way fish know how to investigate things is by putting it in their mouths for a quick taste.

"Caught one." A gentle voice said with some satisfaction in his voice.

The fish tried to free itself by quickly swimming as far away as it could but the size of the pond was limited and it couldn't go very far. It was forced to dash around in circles before tiring itself out and unwillingly being caught by the man with his eyes closed. He held up the hook with the fish and felt the flopping body of the fish.

"Now that's a healthy fish isn't it? Good size on this one."

What he didn't notice however were the small discreet steps of a young girl. She was standing behind him as he was grinning at his catch.

"Why yes it is..." She agreed.

The blind fisherman didn't jump in surprise or suddenly pull out a hidden blade but instead turned in her direction and smiled.

"I didn't realize anyone else was here. I apologize if I bothered you with all the noise."

Jing just stared at the simple uncle.

"I don't have any spirit stones if that's what you're after. I used mine for this month already." He lied with a slightly sad expression.

Jing smiled as she noticed his lie. Still no feelings of hate, anger, or such appeared on his face.

'What a kind older man. Really interesting...' She thought.

"I'm not interested in any external belongings of yours."

"That's good to hear. I don't have much of anything really." He smiled in relief from not being robbed or beaten tonight.

"I do want to know something though..."

"Sure. What would you like to know young lady?"

"If you had the strength to get back at those who wronged you, would you?"

A sad smile appeared on his face as he was lost in thought. Jing respectfully gave him time to think and answer her question.

"I wouldn't."

"Why not?" Jing asked even more interested than before.

How can there be such a pure and kind man in a world like this? It makes no sense. She has to get this anomaly on her side. Even if he doesn't have much use now, she can easily change that. His strange benevolent attitude is worthy to keep by her side. He may be the only one of his kind.

"I realize that the world we live in right now is not how it should be. Human nature isn't as ruthless and unforgiving as it may seem. We can be far more than just animals in human skin. The law of the jungle should only apply in the jungle not to the entire world. The ones who treated me wrongly don't believe that it was wrong to treat me in that way. They were taught that if you have strength, you can do whatever you please to those weaker than you. It's not their fault they were raised in such a skewed and misguided way. Maybe if they were taught to treat others with respect and kindness growing up, they would have grown into honorable young men."

'That type of thinking is far too pure.'

"What about those that have done inexcusable actions then? Will you forgive those that would dirty your daughter, kill her, and then laugh and mock her while drinking ale later?" Jing asked.

"I may be a patient and gentle man but even I know when one deserves punishment. A monster who would do something as terrible as that doesn't deserve to be treated as human."

"I see... Well then. Would you like to join me?"

She could see the old man was taken aback.

"Join you? What do you mean?"

"To help me make this sect a better place. I've seen the horrible and disgusting ways this sect treats its disciples and frankly I'm not impressed. I plan to change this sect from the bottom up and I will need people who I believe also share that vision. Will you help me?" Jing asked.

"I... I... I would love to help you but... I don't see how I could help with such a big goal. I'm blind, I have no talent, the only things I own are the clothes on my back and this fishing rod of mine."

"All I require of you is your loyalty and body. If you follow me exceptionally well, I can even aid you in your dream of teaching the world how to be just human."

The fisherman chuckled as tears starting dripping from his eyes.

"Look at me... getting teary-eyed eyed like a baby. How shameful. Still having such childish dreams at my age. It's silly right?"

"Not at all. Immortality isn't something that is only coveted by the young. Plenty of people wish for immortality."

"Immortality huh... I only wanted to be a cultivator because cultivators always amazed me growing up. The strength to fly through the skies and cut through anything with divine strength but as I grew older, I realized that maybe being powerful isn't all it is cut out to be. I've seen plenty of cultivators endlessly chase after power and strength at many costs. Losing their friends, family, morals, bodies, and even souls all in the search of more power. In the end they either die or become nothing more than cruel heartless husks."

"How would you avoid such a fate then if you were given such strength?"

"Get a hobby." He answered simply.

Jing let out a loud genuine laugh at his answer.

"You're pretty interesting you know that? What's your name?"

"Lei Zhi. What about you young lady?"

"Jing. So, what do you say about my question from earlier?"

"I'll join you. I still don't see how I could be of any help but I'm here if you need me."

"Good. I'll leave some stuff for you. I'll get in contact with you when I need you. Farewell Zhi." Jing told him as she refined a few stuff right in front of him before dropping them on the ground for him to grab later.

"Goodnight Jing. Nice meeting you."

**[New Ally Gained!]**

**[Name: Lei Zhi]**

**[Rank: Qi Gatherer 3]**

**[Occupation: Martial Artist]**

**[Techniques: Flattening Gorilla Palm (Initial), Tricky Fox Steps (Intermediate), Bronze Skin (Advanced)]**

**[Cultivation Method: Book of Qi]**

**[Loyalty: 85% (Has a good impression of you and is happy and willing to follow you improve the sect.)]**

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.

Not quite sure what next chapter will be on. I'll have to think of something. Maybe it'll be Jing finding an array master to disciple under, finding another member for her group, or actually moving forward with the current plot and finding a way to help Tang Wuying get strong enough to fight Gong Jun.


	21. Team Up Between Sword and Shield!

"I realized that you won't have much use if you're just slinging that thing around like a dumb monkey. Take this and go find out where Tang Wuying and Gong Jun live. Find out their cultivation realms, if not expect hell. You'll be meeting up with an ally at the Mission Hall. I haven't told you much of anything yet but I'm gathering influence within the sect. The only thing you need to do is follow my instructions and don't tell anyone about your relation to me. I've let the others know as well to not reveal any information about me." Jing commanded to the kneeling Bing.

She threw a shield martial art in front of him and then placed on a simple white wooden mask on her face. The mask had no mouth hole and only two eye holes. She soon disappeared silently.

"Thank you Empress..." He said with a sob as his future was now 100% set in stone as a follower of the demoness.

* * *

Bing got up as he felt Jing's presence disappear from behind the tree. He started flipping through the shield art with a wide grin on his face as he walked towards the Mission Hall.

"Who knew there were really martial techniques for shields?" Bing asked to no one in particular.

He didn't even believe there were shield arts. He's never even seen anyone use a shield besides mortals in wars with other mortals. He didn't know why but apparently shields are seen as cowardly and weak tools and should only be used by mortals. The mocking comments and constant laughter, he experienced while carrying his shield throughout the sect was not a small number. It wasn't all bad though. Bing could ignore those comments without any problems. The cowardly weakling title placed on him helped him avoid being challenged and bullied by anyone strong.

It has been 2 months since he's disposed of those Huan clan members that broke into his house. He hasn't had any more encounters with the group ever since then. He didn't know if they didn't know that he killed those that broke into his home or they were biding their time to strike him at his weakest. And if it was the latter...

"Hehehe..." He sniggered looking at the potential of his new martial art.

…

Bing arrived at the Mission Hall and was waiting for the other person the demoness definitely forced under her rule. As he took in the enlightening text inside the shield art, he started to hear whispers.

"There she is again!"

"Doesn't she know that she only looks like a fool?"

"Hahahaha! There's a fine line between stubbornness and retardation! Guess which you fall in line with!"

Bing looked up to notice a young girl coming towards the Mission Hall. If it was just any girl, he'd pass a quick glance and then go back to what he was doing but this girl was far from your average girl. First of all, the big freaking blade she was dragging around caught his attention more than her beautiful looks! It contrasted her gentle and weak look completely! And that annoyed angry grimace on her face also didn't help her Bing's first impression of her. Not to mention how she just punched 2 of the cultivators making fun of her and made them collapse into an indignifed heap of pain and weeping.

'Dangerous. Definitely not my type of girl. Seems like the type to try and slice me in half for staring at her breasts. She does have very nice breasts though. Large and shapely just like how I like em.'

As he was lost in thought thinking about the types of girls he likes and how excited he was to start training with his shield art, the girl suddenly popped up in front of his face!

"Oi! You there?" She asked waving her hand in his face.

"Ah! Sorry. Hello? Are you the person I'm waiting for?" Bing guessed.

"Are you the person I'm waiting for?" She asked back with a little bite in her voice.

"I'm uh.. I was told to wait here for an ally. Are you them...?" He asked a little bit frightened. Her aggressive disposition and higher cultivation level and big weapon were intimidating.

Bing recently reached the Qi Gatherer stage 3 and has been training diligently with his devil techniques ever since he came to the sect. He's been feeling unstoppable ever since he's met with the demoness. If he was to be honest, he feels as if he's changed ever since coming in contact with her too. He's done things he would never imagine himself doing before being enslaved by her during the first test.

He's murdered and didn't feel that horrible about it. He relished in grievously injuring and mocking those who fight him. Training and cultivating are becoming more fun and less tedious as it was in his childhood. Causing trouble to those who don't like him. He's completely changed from the cowardly, nervous, and gentle boy he used to be.

"Yep. Let's get moving..." She dragged waiting for him to say his name.

"Bing. Ai Bing."

"I'm Yue. Ying Yue. I can tell you're a bit surprised by this guy here but don't worry he doesn't bite." Ying grinned while rubbing the surface of her blade.

"That is uh.. A big sword..." Bing said unnerved by the eye glaring into his soul.

"Your shield also looks interesting. Did Jing gift it to you too?"

"You're saying the Empress gave you that monstrous thing...?"

"Don't insult him!" She yelled.

"Sorry!" Bing jumped from the strength in her voice.

"He's very sensitive and I have to feel all of those emotions whether I want to or not."

"You mean that thin- sword is alive?"

"Don't you see the moving eyeball?" She asked as if seeing a living sword was a common thing in the world.

Bing just rapidly nodded so that he doesn't get on the bad side on this violent girl.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you. My nerves have been bad lately and I've haven't really found a good outlet yet. I didn't mean to turn that on you."

"It's fine. Let's go find Tang Wuying and Gong Jun."

"Let's go."

Bing started to walk away from the Mission Hall towards the higher ranked outer disciples homes. Those with higher ranks can afford better homes to live in if they defeat those living in the homes in a ranking match. These homes are much nicer, bigger, and well-maintained than the shacks the lower ranked disciples live in. They even get a servant to clean their homes.

"Hey wait up!"

Bing looked back to notice that Ying was still near the top of the stairs while he was already at the bottom. He hoped he didn't seriously have to walk at such a slow pace the entire time but watching at her drag that colossal thing down at the speed she was going. Life is truly unfair to him.

…

"Why do you think Jing wants us to find stuff out about Wuying and Jun?" Ying asked while still strenuously dragging her eye sword behind him.

Bing shrugged his shoulders. He honestly had no clue what could possibly going through the she-devil's head. He hasn't been able to understand her ever since he met her.

"You think she plans on taking them out?"

Bing shrugged his shoulders.

"You do know they are having a duel by the end of the week, right? Maybe she's planning for something to happen before then. What do you think?"

Bing shrugged his shoulders once more.

"You definitely aren't popular with girls." Ying muttered.

"What!? What does that have to do with anything!?"

"You don't know how to talk to people."

"I can speak with people perfectly fine. It's just the questions you were asking were bad questions!"

"Yeah blaming the girl, real manly of you."

"I'm not blaming you! I just meant to say that I don't know what goes on in the Empress's head."

Ying snickered once she heard him call Jing, Empress.

"Did you just call her Empress again?"

"Yes. What about it?"

Ying bust out laughing. Bing's eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't see what's so funny."

"I'll admit that Jing is terrifying even for me but Empress?! Hahahaha! That's a bit too far don't you think?"

"Hmph." Bing turned his head and started to quickly walk forward.

"Ah come on! I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing because you called her Empress."

Bing kept walking ahead.

"You're pretty sensitive too aren't you. Come on man don't leave me behind! We're partners!" Ying yelled while still snickering.

Bing suddenly stopped in his tracks but not because of his own free will. Three people appeared in front of him. One girl and two guys. The guys were both 5th stage Qi Gatherers while the girl was a 6th stage.

"You're Ai Bing right?" She asked.

Bing tightened the grip on his shield. He doesn't know anyone and no one should be looking for him.

"Nope. My name is Lin Feng." He lied with an straight face.

"Lin Feng huh..." She dragged while narrowing her eyes.

"Give me a description of Ai Bing." She ordered to the guys behind her.

"He's fat, at the 3rd stage, carries a shield, and looks stupid."

She looked at Bing and smirked.

"Looks like you're our guy."

Ying finally managed to catch up to Bing

"You actually waited for me. Thanks. I won't make fun of you anymore okay? Are these your friends?" Ying asked not aware of the tense situation.

"I don't know this Ai Bing but like I told you I'm Lin Feng. Will you stop blocking my way now? I'm on my way somewhere right now."

"Quite a mouth on you for someone just at the 3rd stage. Boys beat him half to death for talking to me in such a way."

The two guys grinned as they slowly walked towards Bing.

"Before this escalates, tell me something first. Are you from the Huan clan?" Bing asked.

She only smiled in response to his question. By this time, the two thugs dashed towards Bing. Ying was confused but realized that these guys were after Bing for some reason. She looked at the girl before grinning wildly. She pointed towards the 6th stage cultivator and crushed her hand.

Her entire being burst into flames. Her orange hair brightly burned as it flowed in the wind. A layer of flames surrounded her figure and her great sword turned into a wide mass of flames.

"If you're picking a fight with my teammate, then you're picking a fight with me!" She gestured with her finger telling the girl to come at her.

"You dare pick a fight with the Huan clan!?" She asked.

"I dare it alright. You punks aren't nothing more than a bunch of losers teaming up to protect yourselves. Now come at me already! This Mama doesn't have all day you chicken!"

"You... You... You will regret this! I swear on my name as Qing Huan that I will teach you a lesson!"

"Bla bla bla. Are we gonna fight or are we just gonna talk!?" Ying said with her body still blazing.

Qing took out her sword and angrily charged towards Ying. Her speed was fast and basically unseeable. At moments it looked as if there were multiple versions of her. When faced with a speed like this, any normal cultivator would lose their head before even being able to find where Qing was. It was how she made it near the top 100th ranking in the Outer Court. Most opponents wouldn't be able to follow her speed before being defeated by her.

Ying leaned on her sword and yawned as Qing was nearing her. She looked at her with a cheeky grin. Even the sword was watching Qing's movements as it intensively burned on ground. Qing couldn't believe it was possible for some 5th stage Qi Gatherer to possibly follow her movements. It must be her imagination. It's impossible. She would've recognized this girl if she had any talent or was a genius.

Qing appeared behind Ying and aimed to slice her neck off with one strike. For daring to challenge her and acting so arrogantly in her presence. Refusing to put her beautiful self in her eyes, is only punishable by death! And this first and last attack will finish this.

Smack!

Ying casually backhanded the 6th stage cultivator in the face. Qing was sent flying as if she was just smacked by a giant! Bing and the two cultivators she brought along, eyes enlarged like flies as Qing's body flew past them in the middle of their fight. After seeing Qing crash along the ground, they looked over to see Ying, not on fire anymore, checking her nails as if she didn't just battle with someone an entire stage above her.

Bing took this chance as those two were distracted and attacked! He used his shield and uppercutted one of the Huan clan members away in an arc. The other one tried to stab him in the side but he managed to block with his shield as the last remaining guy unleashed a flurry of sword attacks upon him. Bing blocked the slashes with his superior physical strength from the joint use of Devil Arms and Devil's Physique. His constant blocking only made his opponent attack with even more power and haste.

He could see his opponent tiring out and getting weaker and slower. He was waiting for his chance to turn this around in one swift move like a patient lioness waiting for the perfect chance of pounce on her prey.

And there it was! He was planning to strike down and cleave Bing in two with his blade from above.

Shing!

Bing's shield was slashed down upon and during this moment, Bing deflected the blade to the side, causing the swordsman's sword to stab into the ground. Bing raised his shield high in the air before bringing it down painfully on the back of the cultivator who didn't expect his attack to be deflected.

Crack!

He dropped to the ground with a painful yell.

"So... do you have a death grudge these guys or...?" Ying asked as she held her foot on the guy Bing knocked away.

He could be seen struggling to remove Ying's foot but it was as if she weighed as much as a mountain! He couldn't move her leg even with all of his strength! Just what kind of freak did his clan get involved with...? A fair-skinned beauty with the strength of a giant and attitude of a ferocious beast.

"Hmm... Leave them alive. I'll personally deal with their clan in the future. It seems they just won't leave me alone, so I'll handle it myself." Bing told her.

Ying removed her foot and let the last Huan member scamper away in fright. Bing walked over to Ying and the two continued their task given by Jing.

* * *

A youth could be seen inside his lavish and well-furnished home. That youth gave off a wild and powerful type of feeling to anyone that saw him. He was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer and one of the strongest disciples in the Outer Court. He himself would claim the #1 spot in the Outer Court but only to goad the actual #1 into fighting him. The pussy bastard's too scared to fight him with everything on the line. He's definitely hiding some secret technique or item that he doesn't want people knowing about.

Unbeknownst to him, a figure appeared behind him. They wore a white wooden mask with only eye holes present. They let their qi flow out and spoke.

"Are you Hu Tao?" The masked feminine figure asked.

"And just who in the fuck are you? How did you get in my house? If you're looking to get fucked by me to improve your standing in the sect, fuck off." A wavy white-haired shirtless youth said lazily lounging on his impressive couch.

"I heard about you becoming the slave of whoever manages to defeat you."

"And you think a shitty 1st stage Qi Gatherer like you can do that? I don't know what kind of special technique or object allowed you to sneak in my house without me noticing but if you keep wasting my time, I'll kill you."

The figure smiled beneath her mask.

"An untrained mutt is a useless one. Come along doggy. Let this Mistress teach you some manners."

All of a sudden, in front of her eyes, was Hu Tao punching straight towards her face! A normal cultivator wouldn't have been able to spot the moment Hu Tao left his couch! Much less clash with him and suffer no injuries from his surprise attack!

"What the hell...?" He muttered as his punch and Jing's kick were evenly matched in strength.

"Just who the hell are you!?" He roared as a crazed smile found itself on his face.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next Chappy we got Jing finally showing what she can do! After her fight with Hu Tao we'll see what Lei Zhi is doing at this time.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	22. Jing vs Hu Tao

A purple aura manifested behind Jing, towering over the 9th stage Qi Gatherer. A sick perverted smile was painted on her lips as she stared down the riled up beast. Hu Tao roared out a howl that caused the air inside the house to flee in the form of shockwaves. This howl seems to be an auxiliary martial art! Hu Tao's qi manifested into the form of a black fiendish beast that seemed no less fearsome than Jing's own!

Hu Tao got on all fours and pounced towards Jing intent on slashing her to pieces with his hands. His figure blurred and in no time, he arrived in front of Jing. The powerful qi and savage look in his eyes would unnerve any normal cultivator around his stage. Just looking at him would make anyone of a normal mind to be paralyzed in fear and accept their inevitable fate to be struck down by this creature.

Jing, however, was not like most cultivators. Her first reaction to feeling this type of presence was excitement and worry for her undergarments getting soaked afterwards. It's not every day she can feel something like this. It pulled on a hidden feeling, deep within her heart that made her want to turn loose and reign this mad dog under her control. And she fulled intended to let that feeling surface.

Jing got into her martial art stance.

"Léijí."

Jing unleashed lightning fast kicks that struck Hu Tao all over! Each strike seemed to hit a weak point on Hu Tao's body, causing so much pain to him that he was forced to howl out from the pain as he was knocked away by a final kick into the couch. Hu Tao crashed into his couch and knocked it over as he got back on his feet before he could crash into the fire place. He locked eyes with Jing as the pain running through his body was something he's never felt before or to this level at least.

He grinned.

"This might actually be fun." He stood up, stretching his muscles and cracking his bones.

He slammed his knuckles together and his qi seemed to double in power! The beast behind him increased in size and savageness. He leapt towards her with a leaping kick and Jing was forced back when she contested with him in strength. He somehow increased his strength after being blown back earlier!

Jing fully expected him to be suffering from pain spasms while writhing on the ground after hitting him with her Léijí. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Léijí is an opening move that allows Jing to follow up with other attacks in her Flowering Domination martial art. Those other attacks could either be used to finish the enemy, defend against any incoming projectiles, or just cause more damage with another special move in the kicking technique.

After reading the Empress of Pain's tome, she's learned all the right ways of hurting humans. Her kicks should've caused him to be unable to move at all after kicking him in all the right nerve spots. So, either he has a way of shutting off pain entirely or his fighting will can't be broken through pain alone.

She smirked.

'I guess we'll see how long you can last doggy.'

After kicking Jing backwards, Hu Tao landed on his feet and followed up with multiple vicious claw attacks. Jing met him for every blow with her kicks, slowly getting overpowered more and more. Realizing, that facing him head-on isn't working, Jing dodged one of Hu Tao's slashes and slide kicked toward his legs.

"NICE TRY BITCH!" He yelled.

Hu Tao leapt above Jing, completely dodging her attack and with his clawed hand stretched out, dived at her.

"Or was that my plan all along?" Jing smirked.

Hu Tao's face was still grinning as he was assured in his victory as he was diving towards Jing, ignoring her comment entirely.

'There's no way she can avoid this attack with all my might! I'll snatch her by the throat and force her to tell me how did she get so strong! It has to be a sky-ranked treasure or even a heaven-ranked one! There's no way a 1st stage Qi Gatherer could ever contest with a 9th stage one. Even if they had one of the greatest bloodlines in the world, the gulf in strength between those two stages can't be shortened like this.'

Jing flipped onto her hands and did a handstand before pushing off the ground and kicking Hu Tao in the jaw with her toes, knocking him through upstair's floor and into the second level of the house.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Jing giggled before slowly walking up the steps and into the luxurious bathroom. As soon as she opened the door, Hu Tao punched with a rising fist towards her jaw! This attack would surely break her jaw into pieces if it landed! Jing leaned her head backwards to dodge the attack and with an accurate kick to the chest, caused him to momentarily pause in his movements. After stopping his surprise attack, Jing quickly went on the offensive! She landed kick after kick on Hu Tao's body, causing him to be slowly beaten back.

But it wasn't going all that smoothly for Jing. Jing could see despite having the advantage in technique, Hu Tao was slowly getting used to her movements. She could feel that her kicks weren't landing completely. If she doesn't finish this soon, he'll no doubt be able to dominate her in strength and technique.

After kicking him across the bathroom, Hu Tao ended up with his back to the wall. Jing did a rising high kick aimed straight at Hu Tao's chin.

"NOT!" His dazed eyes suddenly opened clear and wide as he swayed his head to the side and grabbed hold of Jing's leg.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as he spun her around like a top and threw her through the wall into the bedroom.

Jing crashed her head into his mahogany desk near the king-sized bed and lost sight of Hu Tao. She was sure if her body wasn't refined, her head should've exploded like a watermelon or at the very least knocked her into a deep coma from that throw. The power from that throw was not something just anyone could produce!

"You're mine now!" Jing heard in front of her.

Jing back flipped out of the destructive charge attack from Hu Tao that would've left an average 1st stage into nothing more than a mist of blood. She landed on the ceiling with her feet and dive kicked towards the exposed back of Hu Tao. He just grinned as he charged elbow first towards her foot, knowing he held the edge in power.

She used the force of Hu Tao's attack to launch her across the room.

"Is the foreplay over yet mutt? Are you ready to take this seriously yet? Your future is on the line you know?" Jing reminded him as she took out her whip.

"AWOOOO!"

Hu Tao howled as his figure became even more animalistic along with the beast manifesting behind him. It grew two additional snarling heads and enlarged in size. The teeth were fanged and razor sharp. He was on all fours once more and two red shadows of himself formed next to him, mimicking his stance. His hands grew a dark bloody aura around them along with a reddish wolf tail made of qi. The pupils in his eyes disappeared and he looked nothing more than just a feral mindless beast. But even with all this, Jing still felt like Hu Tao was still in control.

He smirked.

Then vanished before her eyes. Jing fully released all of her strength as this battle got into its second phase. Boom! The bedroom was destroyed as Jing and Hu Tao released everything they had. If anyone were to witness such a fight it would be impossible to not label these two as once in a thousand-year geniuses. The way Jing kept Hu Tao out of her personal bubble while also keeping him at a certain distance with her whip. If he dared to make even one mistake, it would be the last mistake he ever made in this fight. Each time she sliced the air with her whip, it aimed at one of Hu Tao's critical points. Jing had her whip's anomalous effect active and fully intended on using it to subdue this wild dog.

But Hu Tao was no slouch either! Swaying his head at the most crucial of times to dodge Jing's fierce rapid whip slashes, not even taking a single cut as he clawed at Jing and her whip with the quickness of a tiger. The wind distorted from the speed of his attacks and sliced at Jing's clothes, nipping at her skin and causing blood to flow.

'Interesting!'

His wind slashes are strong enough to tear through flesh and cut through bones. The last time he used this he accidentally cut a sorry bastard in half from the waist. Hu Tao didn't think that the sack of shit would be weak enough to die from something like that. He was pissed for hours before taking his anger out on one of the weaker disciples.

This would have to mean that the body cultivation technique this girl practices is at the very least earth-rank or higher. Just who is this bitch anyway? He searched all over the Outer Court for any strong fighters. He has never seen anyone like this chick. Hu Tao still can't believe she's in the 1st stage. It has to be an auxiliary martial art that somehow masks her true stage.

But his gut was telling him that she wasn't something that could be understood with normal thinking. He felt like she was a monster in human skin. Even his qi was having trouble picturing her as just some girl. Hu Tao felt like her true form was something indescribable and unclear to the mind. Feeling that endless deep powerful twisted feeling qi... It simply can't be human.

"Just what the fuck are you!?" His face still sporting a battle-crazed smile.

His red shadows broke through Jing's zone after Hu Tao knocked her whip into the ground and kept her from recovering it. Her strength is great enough to take back her whip but not fast enough to avoid the attacks of the shadows. They appeared on each side of Jing ready to swipe her innards out with their claws.

Jing felt a slight trickle run down her upper thigh as she was caught in this dangerous situation. Her lips turned up unconsciously as she was forced into the defensive position constantly with this mutt. Ever since the second start of this battle, Jing was unable to go on the offense. Even if she tried one of her offensive whip techniques, Hu Tao would be able to handle it himself or with the support of his two clones.

'I'm still too wet behind the ears. This is my first real battle after all. Even if I have all the teachings to memory, putting them into practice is a whole different matter. Even with my refinements, this is something that I'll have to solve by gaining experience. This'll be great training to get used to my whip and leg arts.' Jing thought, forgetting her original goal of just ending this by getting a single cut on Hu Tao's skin and forcing him to be her slave or forever undergo the pain of unending suffering.

Jing twirled her body upside down and did a split before kicking her legs around in a whirlwind motion. The two shadows of Hu Tao were unable to predict Jing doing such a strange move and were sucked into her tornado. Jing's legs kicked the two shadows multiple times without them being able to escape the pull of her technique.

'Jùfēng!' Is the name of this technique.

This move is normally used to give the user some breathing room when surrounding on all sides by enemies but with Jing's abnormal body, she is capable of using this technique to new heights! The power of her spin was powerful enough to suck in the two shadows to kick them for as long as she could spin while in the air. They couldn't escape the power of her attacks and were forced to dissipate into nothingness after being attacked so many times.

A sharp light shined from Hu Tao's eyes as he witnessed the defeat of his shadows. He wouldn't be able to summon them again unless he wants to use up all his remaining qi and that would be no fun. There's no way he's going to stop this battle so soon when it's getting so fun! She's showing him so many interesting things that he never thought he'd see in the Outer Court.

Hu Tao lunged after Jing. Jing has long got back on her feet and whipped towards Hu Tao. Hu Tao with the reflexes and flexibility of a wild beast, twisted midair and dodged the whip before landing right under Jing.

"This is how you use it right?!"

He began spinning his arms in a cyclonic manner with his claws stretched out. The entire room was swept up in a sharp cyclone that surrounded both Jing and Hu Tao. Jing was forced off her feet as she used her whip to block the claw attacks of Hu Tao. The strength in his body was even more than Jing's. His spinning claw attack was launching her higher and higher towards the ceiling and she was suffering more and more damage from the wind and his claws.

Since the whip isn't so great at defense at close range, she was helpless against his assault. He's only getting stronger as the battle goes on! Having him in her forces is a must. But first she'll have to get this dog to submit.

Jing dropped her whip and let Hu Tao claw deep across her torso as she went flying through the floor back towards the living room of the house. Her clothes were in tatters and blood was all over it. She didn't feel any of the pain though. She has long turned off her pain receptors. As she slowly got up, her clothes began to fix themselves anew along with the injuries on her body. Jing felt as if her understanding of her current whip and leg arts were slowly improving. After using them in this fight with Hu Tao, Jing was slowly on the verge of a breakthrough into the initial stage of her martial arts. She closed her eyes to try and consolidate her understandings. A faint yellow aura appeared around Jing's legs.

Hu Tao lunged at her from above with a wicked smile on his face as he watched. He was glad that it wasn't over yet. He still hasn't even shown everything he's got yet! If she was finished before he could give it his all, his balls would ache! But thankfully this fight can keep on going!

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next Chapter we'll finish up with this battle and then find out what Lei Zhi did after his meeting with Jing 2 weeks ago and what he's curently doing as of right now.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	23. Successfully Tamed & Some Trouble! 18

"Rending Cross Slash!" Hu Tao shouted with his arms crossed in an x shape as he swiped at Jing from above.

Jing looked up to see a large crisscross shaped qi attack headed straight for her! Even if she tried to dodge, it would be no use. The encapsulating technique trapped her inside like a rat to be sliced and diced up into millions of pieces. North, south, east, and west were all blocked off. The only choices she had was to submit to her fate or counter with her own attack.

"Fǎngchē!" Jing responded in kind.

Jing spun like a graceful pinwheel as Hu Tao's attack reached her. The purple qi enveloping her body allowed her to fight against the dominating slashes. The more she spun, the further it was pushed back by her spinning kicks.

"You gotta be fucking with me!" Hu Tao exclaimed.

He watched as Jing was pushing back his claw technique and couldn't stop himself from grinning. Hu Tao broke through his own technique and started spinning like a windmill towards Jing, taking her technique for himself! It took no more than just a few seconds for this prodigy to figure out the workings of Jing's technique. Calling him anything but a monster would be doing a disservice to the creature known as Hu Tao! His talent is truly abominable!

The two spinning figures fought against each other. One purple and the other dark red. Slowly pushing each other back but none taking the advantage.

'Is she getting stronger too!? I should be ripping her into pieces by now! What the hell is going on with this freaky bitch!?' Hu Tao thought.

His instincts warned him to immediately disengage and flee to a safe distance. Hu Tao's instincts have never done him wrong. Every battle, every encounter, every dangerous situation he was in, counting on his instincts is how he's managed to stay alive. If it weren't for these instincts, he would already be dead inside a ditch and forgotten to the world.

"FUCK THAT!" He responded to his instincts as he urged all the qi in his body to completely tear Jing apart.

Jing swiped her foot to the left. This stopped both her and Hu Tao's spinning. Making them both hang in the middle of the air but with Hu Tao completely off balance. Jing slammed her foot into the stomach of Hu Tao, making him spit up a mixture of blood and saliva from the power of her unrestrained strength. She held him up in the air with her leg completely raised and Hu Tao's hung on her foot.

"This is the end doggy."

Jing struck Hu Tao with her other foot and began to rapidly kick him with both of her feet. Each kick slightly stronger than the last and each leg getting faster and faster. It didn't take long for her feet to turn into nothing but a blur as Hu Tao's body was lifted higher and higher. He was as helpless as a small pup that fell into a wild river. He could only submit to the force of nature that was Jing's power.

Jing continued to unleash lightning speed kicks until a spark could be seen from her legs that soon ignited her feet on fire! Her excitement was through the roof. The joy she was feeling couldn't be topped. This power! This strength! The powerless dog beneath her feet! His looks of anguish and torment! His defiant eyes that still haven't completely given up.

"Yes!" She couldn't stop herself from grabbing her breast and squeezing.

She reared both of her legs back and latched them around Hu Tao's neck. The two of them began spinning wildly as they fell back down towards the floor. A sickening wood-splintering crash was the only sound heard from Hu Tao's house once they reached the ground.

"Mhmm..." Jing's pupils looked as if they turned into hearts.

Her hand was delicately moving inside the lower parts of her robe as she relished from the sight of Hu Tao's head trapped in the flooring and his miniscule and desperate attempts of struggling to get back up. But no matter how much pain he was feeling nor how passionately his willpower was burning, he couldn't will a single jin of strength to rise.

A purple aura could be seen dragging Hu Tao's black beast into its body as the three-headed pup tried to claw itself away. Jing was too lost in her ecstasy to even notice that she has long broken into the initial realm for her cultivation technique. If she was paying attention, she would have realized that when she was kicking Hu Tao in the air that was when she gained enough understanding to break past the elementary stage for the technique.

Jing's eyes were focused directly on Hu Tao's lower robes as her fingers started moving faster and her breaths became more rapid. She walked over and stood over his feeble body. She used the tip of her toes to stroke the masculine imprint on his robes, intensifying the feeling sparking through her entire body. Whether Hu Tao was conscious or willing didn't matter to Jing at all right now. The only thing on her mind was giving herself to the pleasure that was plaguing her body and mind.

In between her toes, she could feel Hu Tao's little friend growing as she rubbed at a faster pace. Her moans were unrestrained and she could feel herself nearing the edge. She raised her leg back and struck Hu Tao in the chest, making him weakly cry out and crash into the wall. That cry was all she needed left, as her body erupted in a wave of pleasure and caused her body to shake uncontrollably.

But she wasn't done just yet, her fingers continued moving in and out as she repeatedly kicked the slumped over Hu Tao. His whimpers and small acts of resistance by trying to grab her leg only aided her in her moment. She couldn't stop herself from screaming loudly as it felt like multiple lightning strikes raged through her entire body in a ripple of heavenly satisfaction.

It would only take her a few seconds before her mind cleared up and her body returned back to normal. She looked over at Hu Tao's knocked out body. This turned out better than she thought it would. Recruiting Hu Tao has only brought advantages for her.

She's reached the initial realm in her leg and whip art and cultivation technique. She's gained some valuable combat experience. A powerful tool at her disposal. The only thing she needs to do now is refine some things for him to use as she did for the rest of her followers. She'll also need some new stuff for herself.

After having that battle, she's realized that she needs something more than just relying on her whip and body. She'll need a movement art, an auxiliary art, and a body art. There is no reason for her not to go all the way and gain herself a full set of martial techniques. She won't be gifting her followers with much though.

She's not their mother. If they want better martial arts or resources, they should go take it for themselves. She plans on having them all meet each other once this business with Tang Wuying is finished. It wouldn't be bad if they all realized the purpose of her gathering them and got to know each other. She'll be regularly sending them out in groups of two or three so, some bonding or introductions will be needed.

* * *

Spash!

The fishing lure gently fell into the small pond. The fisherman's eyes were closed shut and had a serene and calm disposition to them. It was Lei Zhi. He was peacefully fishing to past the time while also reading through the gifts Jing brought him.

Any normal person who knows of Lei Zhi may be confused watching him in his current state. How can a blind man read? He was just pressing his fingers across the pages inside the book but was also somehow able to understand it? What nonsense is this?! No one could read just by dragging their finger across a page.

But Lei Zhi could! This is all because of Jing's strange auxiliary martial art she gave him. Just by making physical contact with the strange technique, his entire view of the world erupted in a magnificent explosion! Previously his entire vision of the world was nothing but blackness and sounds, but after coming in contact with the martial art, the world quite literally started to come alive around him.

He could see! His surroundings were being built inside his mind as his enhanced senses took it all in. His smell, hearing, touch, and even taste became so much more now. He didn't even need his vision back anymore! With this auxiliary martial art, he can see far more than he has ever seen in his whole life.

He can 'see' the fishes swimming in the pond. He can visualize an outline of their entire bodies and even tell the difference between each fish swimming in the pond. He can feel each character within the Xiangqi martial technique with just his finger and based on faint ink impressions can read the entire manual without an issue! He can even hear the heartbeats of the 4 gentlemen behind him!

Wait what?

Lei Zhi turned his head towards the unexpected visitors. They suddenly froze in surprise. They must have not expected him to have known they were behind him. The middle one coughed and started speaking.

"You have better ears than I thought fool, but that doesn't matter much. Give us the stones you have." He spoke rudely.

Lei Zhi recognized this voice. It was the voice of the misguided youth who slapped him and stole his spirit stones before. It seems they have yet to change their ways but then again why would they? It isn't as if they have a respectable role model or figure to look up to. Not in this sect anyway...

"I've already gave you my stones. I can't give you anymore until this month is over." Lei Zhi responded politely.

"Kek!" The leader of the youths laughed and soon after the 3 others started laughing along with him.

Lei Zhi tilted his head in confusion.

"You think we're stupid you blind fossil!? We know you have some hidden around here. Otherwise there would be no way you would have made it to the fourth stage."

"You take Young Master Sying for a fool?! It seems we should give you more than just one slap this time around for daring to lie!"

"I've had some fortune in my cultivation last night young lords. Please believe me." Lei Zhi said with a small smile. He was indeed lying. Jing gifted him a nice number of spirit stones along with the martial techniques she left.

They didn't like that answer. He could see their faces scrunch up into a knot realizing that they might have wasted their time here. He slowly got up and faced the four young lords.

'Perhaps they will just let it go.' He thought hopefully.

"Beat him half to death and then search the area." Sying commanded.

"Yes sir!" The three cackled like a pack of hyenas as they menacingly walked towards Lei Zhi.

Lei Zhi watched as they cracked their knuckles and smashed their fists together before suddenly attacking him 1 at a time. Lei Zhi calmly dodged the leaping punch of the first youth. He heard him land behind him and looked at him with an expression of shock. All of them were shocked at this.

"There's no need for violence. We can solve this without needing to harm one another."

"DIE!" The young man who missed his punch tried again with the same strategy as before and missed once again.

"What the hell is going on!? Aren't you blind!?" Sying asked with confusion and rage.

"Correct young master Sying. I am blind. Now, can we agree to stop the violence and make peace with each other?" Lei Zhi asked.

"Attack him all at once! I don't believe that he can avoid all of you at the same time." Sying ordered.

Lei Zhi was surrounded on all sides. The rowdy youths may not understand how he's able to dodge attacks while being blind but they know that he can't avoid all three of them at the same time! They leapt towards Lei Zhi together. A sad sigh exited from the older gentleman.

'I suppose a humiliating experience should be enough to get these wild kids under control.'

Lei Zhi's figure became blurry and mysterious. It was as if a white haze was covering him as he disappeared from the three-way pincer attack between the youths. They couldn't fathom how exactly did that old blind fool get away from them and before they could react, they all crashed into each other and fell into an undignified heap.

"What are you idiots doing?!" Sying yelled.

They quickly scrambled themselves free of each other and tried to locate Lei Zhi. He appeared right in front of them with his fishing pole behind his back.

"This movement art is called Xiangqi. It's a complex and mysterious art that's meant to lead your opponents exactly where you want them without them being any wiser."

"No one asked! Just die already!"

The rude young man took out his sword and charged towards Lei Zhi. The feisty youth slashed at the blind old man without restraint. Lei Zhi weaved and dodged around the blade with a calm exterior. Not a single drip of sweat appeared on his forehead as he avoided the sharp steel. While his opponent on the other hand, was dripping with sweat.

"Got you now!" Lei Zhi heard behind him.

One of the other young lords appeared behind him with his sword raised high, ready to cleave Lei Zhi in half! While the other was ready to pierce straight through his chest with his blade.

"I think not." Lei Zhi responded as he disappeared and appeared behind the third youth.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SWINGING THAT THING!"

The two young lords that Lei Zhi left alone, clashed blades once he vanished from his previous spot. Lei Zhi kicked the third youth in the behind to the other young lords, making them crash into each other once more and fall to the ground.

"Useless! All of you! I'll deal with you myself." Sying said as he ran towards Lei Zhi.

Sying was a 5th stage cultivator. One stage above Lei Zhi. Normally when facing a cultivator at a higher stage than one's self it's regularly recommended to retreat or don't battle at all. The only exceptions to this rule are when the lower ranked cultivator is a genius or has treasures capable of protecting themselves.

Depending on how you look at it, Lei Zhi could be one of these exceptions. If you count the pink fishing rod given to him by Jing. The only reason he knew it was pink was because of the teasing comments made over the past 2 weeks when he walked around with it. Even though he could 'see', he still couldn't see colors. Lei Zhi wasn't disappointed about that though, he was just grateful he could see anything at all.

He couldn't possibly fathom how such a pretty sounding young girl could produce such a strange thing though. The baffling and cryptic rod was anything but normal. Lei Zhi has lived a relatively long life for an untalented cultivator and he can say that this rod is nothing like the many treasures across the Evergreen continent. He didn't know if he could classify it as a spirit weapon or a spirit tool because it functioned as both a spirit weapon and a spirit tool.

Lei Zhi was perfectly confident in being able to hold his own in a battle with just his fishing rod without even using its hidden abilities. Apparently, there were fishing martial techniques in the world. Strange thing wasn't it? Lei Zhi wouldn't have believe it either if he didn't read the book for himself. That little girl held more mysteries to her than most her age.

"Stop avoiding me and fight you coward!" Sying shouted as he attempted to gut straight through Lei Zhi's stomach with his martial art, Iron Eagle's Steel Talon.

Lei Zhi refocused his attention back to the battle. Avoiding Sying with Xiangqi wasn't a good idea in the long run. His qi reserves were average at best and looking at the vigorous stamina this young man was using to try and reap his life, it wouldn't be long before all his qi was drained and his innards are scooped out by the young master.

Lei Zhi hopped away from Sying and pulled out his fishing rod. The sharp barbed hook hung in the air from the fishing line. Its pinkness shined in the sunlight as a mystical aura seemed to take hold of it. Sying's eyes sharpened once he saw Lei Zhi taking it out. He also chose to get serious as a silver aura glowed around his claws. It wasn't as if he was talking Lei Zhi seriously when he brought out the fishing rod, it was just that he was fed up with him running around like a little weasel.

"Do you truly wish to not just walk away young lord Sying? You will not be young forever and soon the karmic retribution of your unforgiving actions will come to pay back the evil you have done to others." Lei Zhi asked.

"Shut your mouth you senile blind bat! With my brother and uncle behind me in this sect, I'm basically untouchable. You should've just rolled over and gave me what I wanted. Now you'll have to die for your stubborness." Sying ran towards Lei Zhi with a crazed glint in his eyes.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was the first time I've officially written some 18+ content in one of my stories in a more detailed manner. Tell me how I did because I plan to add some more in the future in some small scenes here and there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

But anyway! Jing has sucessfully tamed Hu Tao! What kind of weapon do you think she'll give him? She gave Bing a shield, Ying a greatsword, and Lei Zhi a fishing rod. What uncommon weapon will she hand out next?!

How do you think Lei Zhi will deal with young master Sying?! Will he kill him? Embarrass him? Play with him? What do you think will happen to either Lei Zhi or Sying? Tell me in the comments!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	24. Making Future Troubles & Meeting Another

Lei swung his fishing rod towards the rushing bloodthirsty youth. The fishing hook flew with surprising speed and soared directly towards Sying.

Sying smirked.

He casually swayed his head out of the way and was inches away from ripping out Lei Zhi's throat with his stellar ranked martial art. The look on Lei Zhi's face was not shaken in the slightest. As if the beastly claws of Sying were nothing but the claws of an unruly kitten. His face still held the calm and gentle appearance they had since the start of the fight. Although with a slight sadness tinged to it.

"I got you now!" Syring exclaimed with villainous glee.

But just before his talons reached around Lei Zhi's neck, his body came to an abrupt stop. He couldn't shorten the distance between his hand and Lei Zhi's exposed windpipe. His face scrunched up in confusion and anger. Why couldn't he move!?

His question was soon answered as his body began flying backwards and away from Lei Zhi at fast speeds. His bewildered screams were the only noises heard from him as his body was launched into the air. Lei Zhi expertly controlled his fishing line to cause Sying to fly uncontrollably through the sky. It turns out that Lei Zhi didn't miss his attack in the first place! He wasn't aiming to skewer Sying with his fishing hook but actually capture the youth before he could harm him!

Sying was somehow unable to resist against the pull of the fishing rod as it took him on a wild ride through the sky. His stomach was all over the place and his brain was smashing against his skull several times. The humiliation and suffering he's going through by the hands of this old blind trash was seeping into his blood, bones, and soul. Even if he couldn't form a single coherent thought as he was toyed with, he will never forget this experience. Even if he has to humiliate himself in front of his older brother, he will get his revenge.

After 10 minutes or so, Lei Zhi figured that the boy has had enough discipline shown to him. If he went on any longer than this, he's sure that some irreparable damage might happen to the misguided young man. Unaware that the irreparable damage has already happened in another manner.

The followers of Sying have already fled once they saw Sying being flown around like a retarded kite by the blind grandpa. If Sying couldn't deal with him, then they sure as hell couldn't do anything. Even if they might have to be tortured as punishment for leaving, it's better than the torture that Sying was going through. If their eyes weren't mistaken, they were sure that Sying even pissed himself!

Lei Zhi gently placed Sying back on the ground. Sying couldn't even stand! His legs were like jelly once they touched the earth. He instantly collapsed to the ground and started puking his guts out. Lei Zhi watched as the young man puked for 10 seconds straight and then recovered for a few moments before going back to puking again. It would take him around a minute and some before Sying would stop vomiting.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he slowly turned his head and met eyes with Lei Zhi. Even if Lei Zhi wasn't blind, he was sure he'd still be able to see the seething hatred in that glare. It seems this manner of doing things turned out to be ill found. Humiliation is not the way to humble youths but instead fire them up.

"You-!" Sying quickly covered his mouth as he felt the bile rising to his throat once more.

With a sickening audible gulp, he resigned to just glaring at Lei Zhi before running away. Lei Zhi was troubled. Without a doubt, he just made things worse for himself. Didn't he mention a brother and uncle? The only other uncles besides him are without a doubt are the sect elders. Another sigh escaped from his lips.

"Well. This is the path I chose. Even if the first step was met with failure, it doesn't mean that I am wrong in trying to guide today's cultivators into better humans. It only means that I need to try harder and do better next time." Lei Zhi encouraged himself before walking away from the pond and to his home.

* * *

Two figures were walking together. One round while the other attractive and carrying a large object behind her. Their pace was quite slow but the looks on their faces were positive. It seems that something good must have happened for the both of them.

"I guess people weren't kidding when they said those two were geniuses. It has only been a few weeks since they got here but their progress in cultivation has soared." Ying commented.

"I'd say. They were only 5 and 7th rank when we were taking the recruitment test but now, they are already about to breach through the Qi Gathering realm. With Tang Wuying at the 7th stage and Gong Jun knocking at the door of the 9th rank. The gifted are truly enviable." Bing sighed.

Ying rolled her eyes.

"Hmph. Being jealous of them only makes you look pathetic. There's nothing in life you can't take with enough effort and determination." Ying said with confidence.

"If you say so Yue." Bing responded carelessly.

This weak answer displeased Ying. She casually shot her fist towards his ribs. Bing's eyes widened in terror. He quickly brought up his shield and was sent sliding back some distance from her.

"Please Martial Sister Yue! Spare my poor life and control your temper!" Bing pleaded as he saw the smallest imprint of a dent on the surface of his shield.

"I don't want to hear any cowardly words like that if you're gonna be around me. Seeing how you managed to react to my attack, you're not as bad as you think you are. Be more confident or I'm going to beat you to death until you do." Ying threatened with a playful smile.

"I don't think I could change my attitude if I'm dead Martial Sister." Bing pointed out before standing next to her again with his shield slowly fixing the small dent on itself.

Ying reared her fist back at this smart comment. Bing hid behind his shield like a frightened turtle.

"Don't think that shield will protect you forever Bing. We'll find out one of these days which is stronger between my sword and your shield." Ying promised.

"One day, I hope that never comes..." Bing muttered.

The two eventually reached Jing's home and Ying knocked on the door. Ying and Bing heard a disgruntled masculine voice from inside and were promptly confused. Did they come to the wrong shack? Jing's shack is indistinguishable from all the other lower ranked disciples so it is possible that they come have come to the wrong place.

The answer to their festering questions was soon answered as a shirtless young man opened up the door with an annoyed look on his face.

"What the fuck do you two weaklings want?" Hu Tao asked.

Hu Tao's unbelievably handsome face and muscular lean body was the first to greet the two. The large wild wavy white colored hair that reached to the middle of his back was one of his defining traits in the sect. The thing that was new with him was that his body was wrapped in black chains. From around his neck to all the way down to his feet. A metal ball twice the size of someone's head could be seen being dragged behind his feet that was attached to the metal chains.

To respond to his rude greeting Ying punched straight out towards Hu Tao's face. Bing would've been surprised if he had not just spent the entire day with this beautiful young girl with a predisposition for violence. If anyone slighted her, she was sure to pay them back double. No matter the difference in strength. If she couldn't defeat them, she was sure to cause some sort of pain no matter how little.

Hu Tao easily caught her fist but was also pushed back a little.

"Ooh. You aren't as weak as I thought. Are you a body cultivator? Your strength doesn't match your realm." Hu Tao said nonchalantly.

"I'll show you just how weak I really am." She threatened as her orange eyes blazed with a fighting intent.

Ying grabbed her blade and slowly hoisted it high in the air, ready to completely cleave Hu Tao in two. The ends of Hu Tao's lips started to stretch upwards. The chains around his wrists began to spin rapidly as he reared his fists back.

"Hoo!" A majestic white owl screeched before kicking Ying's blade into the ground and flying in between the two.

Li Li looked no different than when he first arrived at the sect along with Jing. But in the two weeks that have passed he has changed in another manner. He was already at the 9th stage of the Qi Gathering realm. Not even the most ancient of beast cubs could ever match Li Li's cultivation speed. Unless they were being fed creatures higher than their own rank on the regular for 3 meals every day. The little owlet no matter what bloodline he had or how much dilution was absent it would normally allow him to progress so quickly yet, this baby owl had something that no one else in the world has the pleasure of owning. A mother called Jing!

Jing created some martial techniques exclusively for Li Li with SCP- 914! She went all out for her little son and gave him a full set of martial arts. Fighting, cultivation, movement, body, and auxiliary. And since his entire being was refined to something nearly on par with Jing's, gaining mastery in all of those skills was nothing but a breeze for the baby. Jing would even say that he's stronger than her, seeing that she still hasn't made herself a movement, body, and auxiliary art yet.

"Li Li?" Ying questioned before looking behind Hu Tao and seeing Jing staring at the three. "I guess we did find the right house."

"Come in." Jing told them.

Hu Tao grinned at Ying as she and Bing walked inside. She attempted to throw a quick jab as she was passing by but missed just barely as Hu Tao dodged with a teasing smile.

"Did you manage to do what I asked of you?" Jing asked.

"Yes. We managed to find out where they stay. According to rumors, they don't go out much and usually have everything delivered to them by servants. They have been training intensively for the upcoming duel in a few days and both have improved greatly. Tang reaching the 7th stage and Jun reaching peak 8th stage." Bing relayed.

A smile fitting that of a wicked queen appeared on Jing's face.

"Well done you two. I'll handle the rest. You are free to do whatever you please until I call for you again." Jing told them before throwing two storage rings towards them.

They caught the rings and looked inside to see around 20 mortal-ranked spirit stones. Ying's eyes turned into pink hearts as she looked at her new found tool for increasing her cultivation. Bing's expression was not so different in the way he greedily gazed at the stones within the ring. With this many spirit stones, he may be able to deal with the Huan group within the outer court faster.

"Who is this guy by the way?" Ying asked pointed towards Hu Tao who was picking his nose without a care in the world.

"Your new teammate." Jing answered.

Jing saw that Ying wasn't happy with that answer. Her pretty face scrunched up as she saw him mocking her. She was having a hard time controlling herself from crushing him into the ground.

"You wanna go princess? If you're anything like her, I'll even consider marrying ya." Hu Tao said while pointing at Jing.

"How did you know I was of noble birth?" Ying asked.

"I didn't. You just seem like a spoiled brat." He laughed.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Ying needed to punch this jerk in the face. His stupid handsome face deserved some punishment with such a crass mouth. She sent a straight punch towards Hu Tao's face and he continued laughing as the chains on his body formed a net in front of his face and caught her fist.

"Try taking me on once you aren't so weak. The difference between our ranks isn't little Princess. Even if you used that strange blade, you wouldn't be able to cut a single thing on me."

"You wanna bet asshole?" She spat.

Jing watched with an amused smile on her face but she couldn't have these two fighting inside her house. Nor did she want them showing off their strength in public so soon but for some reason she didn't believe that she could hide their power for long. Their personalities aren't suited for a task like that. Especially Hu Tao. The wild mutt can't go 2 seconds without trying to annoy someone into fighting him.

She needs a way of contacting them without putting her identity at risk. So, that means not having Li Li sending them letters nor having them all meet at her shack. She'll have to figure something out when she's on her way to meet Wuying.

"Hu Tao, save it later. Ying, understand your limits. Bing, go increase your cultivation."

"Whatever..." Hu Tao responded.

"But he! I... Understood..." She responded like a reprimanded child.

"Yes Empress."

"Now all of you get out of my house. If I need you, you'll find out."

The trio left Jing's door and stood in front of her yard together.

"So, what's up with you two? How did you meet her?" Hu Tao asked.

"None of your business." Ying responded coldly.

"I guess you can say she saved my life in a way..." Bing answered.

"I look forward to fighting you two in the future. Don't make me wait too long though. I hate teases." He said with a special look toward Bing.

Bing's entire body shivered from that gaze. It was as if he was being stared at as nothing more than just a piece of meat.

'Weird...'

"See you later then weaklings. With all these spirit stones, breaking into the Qi Consolidation stage will be a piece of cake." He laughed while throwing a storage ring up in the air and catching it repeatedly.

"That guy's such an ass." Ying shared.

"He is... something..." Bing agreed.

She wasn't satisfied with his answer but decided not to argue with him about it. It's been a long day. They said their goodbyes and went along their way back to their own homes.

"Tiger Boomerang..." Jing muttered as she spun the sharp hand sized boomerang around her finger.

She inserted the boomerang into her hand and refined it on Very Fine. This little thing will be her bargaining chip against Tang Wuying. Once he gets a taste of this baby, he won't be able to live without it. Especially with his face on the line in this upcoming duel. The last time she's seen Tang Wuying it seemed like he cared a lot about face. Jing's planning on using that to her advantage tonight.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Seems like Lei Zhi's wish to reform the misguided cultivators has started off with a rough beginning. Let's see if Sying will give him another chance to try and reform him.

Hu Tao has offically joined the cast! I'm real excited to write about his character because i just love asshole characters. He's gonna be an annoying prick trust me. (If you haven't read my my hero acdemia fanfic, this may be a surprise to you.)

To end this off, Jing is one step closer to finishing her mission given by the system! Let's see how she finishes this off in the next few chapters!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	25. Tang Wuying

A handsome youth with attractive deep red hair was slashing away inside a large room. Every swipe and cut with his blade was accurate and oozed of viciousness. For the average cultivator, just by watching him practice they would feel the very air around them being turned against them. As if his blade transformed into the air around them and was threatening to slice them at any moment. It wouldn't just stop there though, the way the aggressive youth slashed through the air resembled a raging tempest. All it took was one slash to get him going into an unstoppable typhoon of steel.

The youth flicked their blade and sheathed it on their back. He was now finished with his sword training for today and would spend the rest of it cultivating back inside his room. Although the red-headed youth had other martial arts he could also practice, he chose to focus on what he could before the duel. If he wasted time practicing the new martial arts his master gave him, he wouldn't be prepared in the slightest for his duel in the coming days. While they are high in rank, with the time he has left it would be crazy to believe he'll be able to progress fast enough to try and contend with Gong Jun with them.

So, Tang chose to focus on his Tempest Fang sword martial art and his Azure Burning Dragon cultivation skill. Only with superior strength and power will he be able to defeat Gong Jun. His other skills will only be supplementary in his duel with Gong Jun.

Tang started walking out of the training room. As he opened the door to leave, a servant was there waiting for him.

"Master Tang, Master Mo has called for you. You are to receive him in the main stairwell." The servant finished with a bow.

Tang Wuying didn't respond but acknowledged the servant with his eyes before wiping his sweaty body with a towel and heading towards the stairwell. Master Mo had all of his disciples reside in the same house. It was quite large and Tang frequently found himself lost through the many long hallways and similarly looking intricate furniture. Even though he's spent two months in this place, he dares not say that he has fully learned every part of it. But large and complex homes are nothing new to someone like him. He has gotten lost in his own home more times than he cares to admit. He'll eventually find his way to the main stairwell.

His Second Senior and Third Senior are quite the loud bunch when paired together. They are like a dragon and tiger, cat and dog, man and demon. Can never get along and are rarely seen agreeing with one another. His Second Senior's shouting should reach his ears soon enough and then all he has to do is head towards that direction.

"YOU INSUFFERABLE FOOL! DO NOT MENTION ANOTHER WORD OF SUCH A DISCIPCABLE TOPIC OR I'LL END YOU MYSELF!"

And there it is. Tang Wuying headed towards his Second Senior's shout and within minutes found himself at the main stairwell. His master was standing powerfully at the bottom of the stairwell with all of his Senior apprentice brothers waiting in front of him. It seems he was the last to arrive again. How infuriating...

"Aha there he is! Our favorite Junior Brother late again! Did you get lost again Junior?" His Third Senior teased with an annoying smile.

He didn't bother replying and ignored Third Senior before also arriving in front of Master Mo. His Second Senior looked at him with a strange gaze. Tang didn't know what to make of his Second Senior as of yet. They rarely talked so far but he hasn't treated him negatively. All of their past interactions were simple greetings. His Eldest Senior was the most mysterious of all his Senior Brothers. He rarely speaks and spends most of his time training or going on dangerous tasks for the sect to gain contribution points. Even just standing near him made Tang Wuying feel inadequate, as if he was standing next to an immeasurable mystical mountain. Not even his master made him feel that way! Tang Wuying was confident in passing his master in strength in the future but with Zihan, his Eldest Senior, it feels like no matter how hard he trains it would be impossible to surpass him.

That pissed him off. He, Tang Wuying, feeling inferior to another? He should feel ashamed of ever calling himself a treasured son of a heavens if so! No matter what it takes, he will find a way to catch up to his Eldest Senior. Even if he has to take alternative ways to gaining strength, he will find a way to match him.

"If you need help finding your way around the manor, I wouldn't mind spending some time to come look for you Junior Brother." Gong Jun's look towards him was very similar to Third Senior's. That bastard was looking down on him again!

'He may be a whole rank higher than me but I'll show him! I'll wipe that filthy smirk right off your mouth with my blade in good time.'

"I don't need any help. Mind your own business and stay out of mine." Tang Wuying barked.

Gong Jun teasingly smiled as if Tang was nothing more than an unruly child rebelling against his parent.

He could barely control himself from lunging at his Fourth Senior and slicing him in half.

"Uh oh First Junior, it looks like you made little Tang upset. He's gone bright red in the face. I think he's about to start crying." Chao, Third Senior, stated with false concern.

"Oh, dear Little Tang. Please please forgive me for my harsh words. I did not mean to hurt your feelings so!" Gong Jun added with his own mocking voice.

"I'LL KILL YOU BASTARDS! DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME!" Tang Wuying slashed out with indignation.

His blade roared towards the two older disciples with a horizontal swipe. Chao casually leaned his head back and dodged the furious steel while Gong Jun blocked with his qi. Seeing how easily his attack was handled by the two only served to fuel Tang Wuying's anger even more. He slashed towards the two with no further reservations to wipe those mocking smiles off.

"Third Junior! Master Mo has yet to tell us why he has gathered here. Show some respect and wait till he's told us what he needs to before acting so unruly." Jian, his Second Senior, ordered.

Tang Wuying's body was frozen by the glare of his Second Senior. His sword aiming for the throat of Chao was stopped. Like he planned on simply threatening his Third Senior instead of chopping his silly head off. The power of his Second Senior's stare was unbelievable. Is he truly the weakest out of all his fellow disciples? A sudden realization rained over Tang Wuying. He reigned in his anger and sheathed his blade before bowing towards Master Mo.

"I apologize for my actions Master."

A grin appeared on Elder Mo's face.

"That's alright you little brat. Just remember not to do it again." Elder Mo said.

Tang Wuying nodded and soon Elder Mo began telling the five of them his purpose for gathering them.

"Alright brats, as you know the sect's Treasured Plains are being opened up in a few months' time," He began. Looks of interest appeared on everyone's faces but Zihan. "Get as many benefits as you can during this time because after the opening of the Plains, the sect's Grand Tournament will be coming soon. Work together to maximize the gains. I won't accept any fighting between you brats in the Plains. The stronger you become in the following months before the Tournament, the better your rewards will be in the Tournament. Having a good ranking within the Tournament will allow you brats to progress much faster. Normally the top 10 disciples are rewarded by the end of the battles with the top 3 being allowed into the top floor of the library to choose a sky-ranked martial art along with some other great rewards."

"What kind of treasures are in the Treasured Plains Master?" Gong Jun asked.

"Almost anything you can think of. Spirit weapons, spirit ores, rare spiritual plants and herbs, the blood, skin, organs, and bones of strong spirit beasts, and naturally forming treasures. If you want it, you'll find it in the Treasured Plains. Well that's if you have the strength to take it and keep it until the end."

"Why do we need to have a good ranking in the Grand Tournament?" Tang Wuying asked.

"Our Sect will have our competition with the Nine Swords sect and Blossoming Water Palace sect that takes place every 5 years. We can't have our disciples make us look too bad so that's why we're fattening you up with the tournament and the Plains."

"Master. Will Elder Ru's, Elder Change's, and Sect Master's disciples be going against us?" Jian asked.

"Yes. If you can try and kill them without leaving any evidence in the Treasured Plains. If you can't, beat them till their spirits are crushed. Do not cripple them under any circumstance, you'll bring trouble my way and won't be able to escape punishment from their masters."

"Very well. I'll do some careful planning. Is there anyone we should focus on taking out?"

"Sect Master's disciples have the most potential. Focus on eliminating them out of everyone else. Anyone else is just cherry on the top."

"Understood." Jian said with an evil smile on his face.

"Also keep an eye on Elder Zhong's newest disciple, that old fool usually stays away from taking in disciples but when he does, they are unusually talented. Besides that. You all are to get as strong as you can in these following months. If you need anything just ask me. You're all dismissed."

"Yes Master!" Four out of the five disciples shouted while Zihan simply nodded with his eyes open.

The five soon dispersed and Tang Wuying had one of the servants escort him back to one of the training rooms. After taking note of his strength compared to his Senior Brothers, he will have to train even harder than he already has. Tang Wuying refused to be inferior to anyone. His pride, blood, and talent couldn't allow him to stay as complacent as he was before he joined the sect. Back in Yellow Jade City, he was the top prodigy around. None was his equal in terms of age and even some above were below him in talent. But ever since joining the sect, he's been constantly forced to accept that he wasn't as great as he thought and there were more people just as amazing as him or even better. He was nothing but a toad in a well before. But not anymore! He will take his proper place as a treasured son of heaven and show everyone else just how superior he truly is.

* * *

The sun has completely set. The darkness floating around the sect would allow any scheming individual to sneak around as they wish. There were no signs of anyone patrolling around to apprehend or warn such individuals from staying out in such darkness. Why would no one be patrolling around the sect? The answer to such a question may be 'Why would anyone even dare try and trespass into the Golden Serpent Sect?' Surely, they must be asking for death by doing such a thing. The Golden Serpent Sect is not one to take lightly. They are known for their ruthlessness. One such individual was standing above the classy manor. This individual was wearing a shabby wooden mask painted white. The mask only revealed the silhouette's violet eyes while their figure was masculine. They wore a simple black robe that did little to hide the strength hidden beneath them.

The mysterious man suddenly appeared on the balcony. He walked towards the closed drapes with nary a sound in his footsteps. He gently opened the drapes and walked inside the black room. Those dark orchid colored pupils locked on to the crimson haired youth peacefully resting in his bed. The sound of liquid flowing could be heard from the masked man's body. At his feet, water began to flow from underneath his robes and slowly shape itself into chair. Once it fully formed, the man took a seat before bringing his palms together with a sharp slap.

Tang Wuying jumped from his bed with his eyes burning in rage, thinking that this was another prank by his Third Senior. He's surely going to tear his clothes to pieces if he can't cause him to bleed to death. Tang Wuying reached for his blade next to his bed before meeting eyes with the masked figure.

"Who are you...?" He asked with his guard up.

"I have a proposal for you Tang Wuying." The seductive voice floating around Tang's ears.

Tang Wuying's hand gripped his blade's handle.

"What could I of all people need?" Tang asked curiously. If this stranger says some nonsense, he plans on decapitating them immediately.

"Your upcoming duel. You and I both know you are not strong enough to best Gong Jun."

Tang Wuying angrily furrowed his brows. His sword was slowly slipping from its sheath and revealing its glimmering exterior.

"You, a mid-staged 7th rank Qi Gatherer, while he's a peak 8th rank Qi Gatherer. There's no chance of you besting him..."

"Enough of your tongue! I'll defeat him regardless of rank! I'm a genius! You've now said your last words intruder, die!" Tang Wuying leapt towards the defenseless man and aimed to separate his head from his neck with his sword.

Shlorp!

"What the!?"

Tang Wuying's blade was stopped by water. The masked man hasn't even moved a finger to defend himself and it seems he didn't have to. Water from his chair stretched out to defend him from Tang Wuying's attack and effortless stopped the vicious sword.

"Unless... I help you." He interlocked his fingers together.

The masked individual smiled as confusion found itself on Tang Wuying's face.

"Help me?! How could you possibly help me!? Do you even know who my master is? He's one of the head elders of Golden Serpent Sect. Are you saying you possess more resources than even someone of his standing?"

"Yes, I do and oh so much more. The things I can show you are far beyond your current understanding. Not even your master can compare to the wares I hold."

Tang Wuying couldn't respond. Staring into those devilish eyes, made him feel irritated yet tempted. What if the nonsense this guy was spouting wasn't just empty words? What if he could truly help him gain the power he needs? He can't sense anything from this guy. Not his realm, strength, nor background.

"Give me something that'll make me the strongest disciple within the sect.

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The masked man busted out with unrestrained laughter.

Tang Wuying's eyebrows immediately furrowed and his grip on his sword tightened.

"I apologize Tang for that rude outburst but you see I just couldn't help myself. But anyway, no I cannot make you the strongest disciple within the sect..."

"Then what use are you!?" He spat.

"I might not be able to make you the strongest disciple however... I can make you one of the strongest disciples in the sect." He grinned.

"I don't believe you." Tang bluntly responded.

"Well how about I show you one of my wares? I'm sure you'll change your mind in no time my dear boy." The masked man flicked his wrist and suddenly the appearance of a large boomerang thumped on the floor.

Tang looked for any signs of a storage ring on the masked man's fingers and couldn't find one. So how did he just... No more importantly, just what kind of weapon is that? Just what is that strange energy surrounding it? It isn't fire qi, water qi, lightning qi, nor any other type of elemental qi he's felt before. Tang Wuying felt an indescribable connection with the weapon that appeared from thin air. It was calling to him. It wanted him. It felt like it belonged to him and only him. That it was meant for him and no one else in the whole world.

"Grab it." The masked individual commanded with a deeper tone of voice.

Tang Wuying disliked the tone the man had with him but felt compelled to listen to him. Not because of his mysterious nature or strength but because of the weapon itself wanting him to. He placed his hand on the weapon and soon felt a rush of qi surging within him. Yellow arrow-like markings began racing up his skin and all over his body. This power... This qi... These memories!

"I'M FEELING IT! LORD TYANIR! I FEEL YOUR BLESSING RUNNING THROUGH ME!" He exclaimed joyously.

With the Apostle's weapon, there is nothing that could stop him from becoming an immortal. Without it, he is nothing. He is less than nothing. If he continues the same path he was heading without the boomerang, then at best he would only reach the Qi Transformation stage. How could one of the treasured sons of heaven be content with a measly Qi Transformation stage? NO! Tang Wuying refused to be satisfied with such a thing! He's going to rise past the heavens and show everyone that he's the greatest genius that has ever lived! And the first step... Is getting the First Apostle's weapon into his hands.

Yoink! The masked merchant caused the Tiger Boomerang to vanish and looked at Tang with a jolly look in his eyes.

"Well young master Tang?" He asked despite fully knowing that he's already succeeding in getting Tang Wuying in his palms.

"What is your price for that weapon?" He asked with much more civility.

"All I ask of you... is for... your partnership."

"Partnership? What could I have that could possibly catch your eye?"

"Don't question me boy," He answered with force behind his voice. "So what do you say? Yes or no?" He asked with his voice returning back to the whimsical tone it had before.

"I accept..." Tang responded while not making eye contact.

The masked man snapped his finger and the giant human-sized tiger painted boomerang appeared once more. Tang couldn't stop himself from immediately connecting with the divine weapon. He felt his connection with Tyanir increasing along with the blessing transforming his body into a more suitable one as a follower of Tyanir, the Lord of Acceleration. The markings crawled all over his body and soon settled there, permanently etching into his skin along with the special energy of Tyanir devouring and replacing his old qi element.

During this transformation, he didn't even notice the mysterious merchant exiting from which he came while crazily laughing to himself.

"With this blessing, taking out Gong won't even be an issue! Of course, I'll have to faithfully practice with the Apostle's weapon and get used to it. Such a rare and ancient weapon is bound to take time to master. Hopefully it'll be enough to at least contest with Gong equally." He muttered to himself.

"Hehehehe... First Senior... You are no longer just a dream but now a goal..."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finishing this chapter took me serveral days. Who knew writing about antagonists was so hard? Getting into the minds of different characters is not as easy as i thought. Seriously i give my respect to those authors that do these multiple POV's in stories. It's not that easy.

But anyway next chapter we'll be uh.. with one of our main cast... hopefully. I haven't decided yet. I could focus on Lei Zhi, Jing, Ying, Bing, or even Li Li. Now that i think about it.. I haven't been giving the little owlet much love. He's next for sure.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	26. Li Li's Breakfast

"Hoo."

Li Li stood over the resting Jing. He gently rubbed his face on hers to wake her. She tiredly giggled from the heavenly feel of his feathers on her skin.

"Alright Li Li. Be careful out there okay? If you find yourself in trouble make sure to fly away as fast as you can." She warned him.

"Coo coo." He responded as he turned the door knob and flew outside the house.

Without a sound, he soon vanished into the skies at high speeds. Li Li was on his way to eat some breakfast in the Immortal Forest! With his realm being at the 9th stage, he could go past the outer edges of the forest and into the middle area. The middle area of the Immortal Forest is where spirit beasts of the Qi Consolidation stage and Core Preparation stage stay, with the latter being closer towards the edge of the inner area of the forest.

Today will be the second time he's entering this part of the forest ever since reaching the 9th stage. Li Li was excited to see what other delicacies existed in the middle area besides the Iron-horned Deer and Fatty Koi Fish. The Iron-horned deer had the best tasting meat of all the four-legged animals he ate so far but their innards weren't as tasty so, he usually left those alone. The same was with the Fatty Koi Fish except all of it tasted good.

"Skree!"

Li Li heard the cry of a bird far above him. This bird was huge compared to himself, who was still just a baby. It was large enough to grab adult humans in its talons and tower over them standing up. It was in the same realm as Li Li and figured he would be good for a snack. Looking down on him will be its greatest mistake. Li Li hasn't tried the meat of this one yet and since it is gladly offering itself up for him, why not take a bite?

The bigger bird, Lightning-Wing Falcon, soared down towards Li Li. Li Li answered the challenge and flew towards the falcon. Li Li could feel the arrogance of the bird above him. It probably thought he was giving itself to him without a fight but he'll show him who's the snack. The falcon attempted to swallow Li Li in a single bite.

"Caw!" It cried out.

Li Li kicked it across the face with his foot and sent it clumsily flying further into the sky. Li Li smirked as he looked at the spiraling bird of prey. He waited as it recovered and looked at him in disbelief. Comparing sizes alone, Li Li was nothing but a bug in comparison to it. If the Falcon could get Li Li in his grip then it would barely be 1/10 the size of one of its talons. The Falcon saw the confident and cocky look in the owlet's eyes and grew enraged.

It gathered the qi within its core and opened its beak wide as it shot out a bolt of lightning straight towards Li Li. The infant avian scoffed. He turned away as he also willed his qi from his beast core. A purple manifestation of an Iron-horned deer charged towards the lightning bolt. This manifestation was ethereal in appearance and ghostly in nature. It was one of the souls of an actual Iron-horned deer that Li Li ate yesterday.

An Iron-horned Deer's horns were thick metallic branchy spears of death. Being on the receiving end of this creature's charge usually doesn't have a pleasant end. Thankfully, the only dangerous thing about this spirit beast is their horns. So, most cultivators usually take them out from afar with a talisman, arrow, or ranged technique. The risk in dealing with their horns isn't worth risking with their body. If a cultivator is unfortunate enough, the Iron Deer could gore them through any defensive treasure or qi shield. Not even body cultivators dare take on one of these horned creatures.

The sound of the deer's horn and the lightning bolt clashing was a sharp piercing sound. Any normal cultivator nearby would be clutching their ears in pain as the deer deflected the lightning bolt with its horns. The metal-like nature of its horns combined with its spiritual body easily allowed the Iron Deer to redirect the lightning bolt elsewhere as it continued clopping through the air towards the falcon.

The falcon screeched as lightning started to arc all over its body. It soared towards the Iron Deer. The lightning increased the creature's speed up an entire level! The Iron Deer was cleaved in half by the giant bird's wings. Despite being able to redirect the lightning bolt earlier, this was only because of its great horns. Lightning qi actually has a purifying effect on yin qi, which is what the materialized Iron Deer is created out of.

Li Li, with his back still turned around towards his prey, yawned. The falcon was infuriated with the arrogance this small prey was showing it. If there is one thing it must do today, it is eating this puny little bird. The falcon soared towards Li Li. Its fury was blinding it, making Li Li the only thing in its sights. It didn't give any thoughts to how this small creature was able to reach the 9th realm in the Qi Gathering stage, all that was on its mind was an annoying ant that deserved to be eaten.

"SQWAK!"

And before it knew it, it was filled with sharp spears stabbing through its body. A herd of Iron Deer had their horns impaled in the falcon's body. Blood flowed from its body and drooped to the ground below like a small stream. The beast was tethering on the edge of life and death and Li Li could see it within its blurred eyes. Its soul was just about to unlatch itself from its body and linger on filled with regrets and resentment for Li Li.

But just before it could leave its container, Li Li flew in front of its fading sight and smirked.

"Hoo." Li Li gloated to the dying spirit beast.

Its soul grew a deeper purple as its resentment for Li Li rose to unknown heights. It dares to mock him as its dying? It dares belittle and low down on him?! Even if it can't do anything to the small infant, it can curse him with all its dying breath.

Which Li Li thanks him for. Thanks to that final parting message, its soul has become fully ripe and worth keeping. The Lightning-Wing Flacon's soul has turned a blood red and could easily allow him to break into the Qi Consolidation stage and probably to the peak of the first stage. The feeling of soul devouring and rising through the cultivation ranks is the feeling every beast instinctively craves. There is no spirit beast that wouldn't immediately try and break through at all times.

No spirit beast except for Li Li... Li Li is more than just a spirit beast thanks to his mom's refinement. He is more than a creature of simple instinct and craving for strength and as such, he has enough control to not swallow this delicious, tasty, fresh, enticing soul right now. Even if he really really really wants to.

'No!' He tells himself.

His mother told him no more eating souls without her consent. His qi, however, was already wrapping around the resisting soul of the falcon like a snake about to gulp its prey whole. As if his hesitation meant nothing to it. He struggled to gain control over his predatory yin qi as his desires were overpowering his reason. The taste, the surge of strength, the strengthening of his soul and qi... How could a baby bird of prey resist!?

'Li Li!'

His qi halted. He imagined the look on his mother's face once he returned after disobeying her wishes. It caused a gripping pain on his heart. He couldn't disappoint his mom. Not for something like this. Seeing her sad face, he just couldn't go through with it. He's never let his mom down before and he doesn't wish to start now.

Li Li stored the vengeful soul within his body and around his soul palace along with the many other souls he's collected. He dematerialized the herd of Iron Deer and flew down with the corpse and started eating.

Thanks to his mother's special ability to take things into her body and take them out completely changed, Li Li was gifted his own cultivation and auxiliary technique.

His cultivation technique is called the Soul Devourer. It allows him to witness the world of the dead and swallow any lingering souls that he wishes. Swallowing souls quickly raises his qi and lets him speed through the cultivation stages. Besides raising his qi, it also strengthens both his qi and his soul. His mother warned him not to abuse this ability though. She said that if he breaks through ranks so quickly, his foundation will be unstable and future potential will be limited.

Li Li didn't really understand what she meant but he did understand that his mother didn't want him to eat too many souls and use them to increase his cultivation. Ever since she warned him, he stopped eating the souls and would wait till his mother gave him permission to advance.

His other technique was called Legion of Souls. This auxiliary art is what gives Li Li his control over souls and spirits. He can summon, store, command, absorb, and take control over the departed. At his current rank with the skill, he can only store a max of 10 souls to use as he pleases. If he needs to make room with a particular soul he finds, he can sacrifice the soul of it to any other souls in his storage or just eat it.

This support martial art isn't all-powerful though. If the soul is particularly strong, then it can wholly resist Li Li's attempts to eat, store, or manipulate it. If Li Li wants to reach the pinnacle of this supplementary technique, he must reinforce and iron his will to completely control any departed soul. Sadly though, neither him nor his mom knew how to make his will stronger.

Li Li has now rendered the flesh of the Lightning-Wing Falcon devoured and left only the bones behind. His ears perked up and a majority of the middle area of the Immortal Forest was opened to him. The sounds of running water, swimming fishes, slithering lizards, crawling rodents, and numerous fighting spirit beasts. Among all those sounds, he also heard something strange. A deep powerful breathing filled with ancient power that he's felt before.

'Strong Lung!' He recalled.

This qi presence was the special lung he wanted to get for his mother! Although he doubted she still needed it ever since coming back from the dead in Yellow Jade City, it could be a nice present to give her since he wasn't able to get it before.

Li Li silently took off towards this qi. With his feathers, he'd only be a giant target in this forest of green. He flew above the clouds and with his superior sight, watched from above. His eyes located the source of the familiar energy and focused in on him. The youth was meditating alone in a forest clearing. The very air around him seemed to bend to his will and give off that powerful energy that can't belong to any normal youth.

He was a 7th stage Qi Gatherer. Much Weaker than Li Li thought he would be but perhaps Li Li was the cause of that. Li Li checked the surroundings for any signs of anything else before he charged in to take the boy's lung and saw nothing that could interrupt his hunt.

Li Li sliced through the air like a noiseless comet. His prey was within his sight and he doubted it could react before he attacked.

Reality is often filled with surprises though. The youth managed to sense Li Li as he neared 10 meters from him. He hurriedly hopped out of the way as he made eye contact with Li Li who landed where he previously was. Li Li could tell the boy was initially panicked but a calm look soon took his face.

* * *

Xun Liuxian immediately understood that he was no match for this spirit beast and that it wasn't just any simple beast. The look within its eyes tell a much different story than any other spirit beast within this part of the forest. He was now regretting stepping foot into this part of the Immortal Forest when his cultivation isn't so high but he couldn't resist the chance of getting weaker by staying with those weak beasts in the outer area. If he doesn't push himself, how will he ever gain the strength needed to end Tang Wuying and his lineage?

He may have gotten himself into something he can't get out of. With the speed he sensed earlier from the spirit beast, running away is a pipe dream within this clearing. He has to think of something while the creature is still just watching him.

Xun Liuxian slowly breathed in and out. The wind around him began picking up as wind swirled around him. The 9th stage spirit beast watched him in curiosity. Just maybe he can get out this situation with all his limbs intact.

Swoosh!

The beast flew towards him. His senses could barely react but thankfully his body did it for him. He used the air he conjured earlier and blew himself through the air. The bird was still faster than he was but at least the situation has changed. He's now surrounded by numerous trees so the bird can't fly as easily as it could in the clearing.

The spirit beast was close enough to snatch his eyeball out from its socket. Xun Liuxian painfully palmed his own stomach, releasing some of the qi-strengthened air within his lung. This action used because of a life-threatening situation managed to save Xun Liuxian from the jaws of death! Literally!

He managed to separate himself a necessary distance from the maw of another beast as the previous 9th stage bird was swallowed whole. Xun Liuxian watched as a Dragon Worm erupted into the sky from beneath the earth. It was a 1st stage Qi Consolidation spirit beast. He figured it sensed the qi of the bird from before and used his perilous situation as a chance to advance its cultivation.

The sweat dripping through his pores, soaked his clothes. Even when he was running for his life from Tang Wuying's goons, he didn't sweat this hard. Just what kind of spirit beast was that bird? He's never heard of anything like it. His master even gave him a book on beasts that frequent the Immortal Forest. That's why he knew the name of the Dragon Worm. It was a gargantuan sized worm that frequently preyed on large sluggish creatures or beasts that grouped up in herds.

After those close encounters with death, Xun decided that maybe it's time to go home for today. He'll make sure to stay out of the middle area until he's gone past the first cultivation realm. Today's experience has been enlightening to him to say the least.

"KHREEEE!"

Xun covered his ears from the thunderous cry of the Dragon Worm. He looked up to see the serpent-like beast uncontrollable waving through the air. It looked like it was in pain but how could that be? Xun focused his sights on the living meat tower.

"That cannot be!"

A red slit started revealing itself on the worm's body. All the way from the mouth to the middle of the beast's torso. Blood shot out with the rage of 1000 storms. In Xun's eyes, it covered the sky. A tidal wave of red washed Xun away. Not even with his gift could he escape this incoming disaster. His body was at the mercy of the dying spirit beast's liquid.

If anyone else were in his situation they would find themselves quickly running out of breath and at risk of drowning but Xun Liuxian is not just anyone anymore. Ever since merging with the Ancient Immortal's lung, his body has become fundamentally different than a standard human's. One of those differences is that he can hold his breath for an indefinite amount of time. Well as far as he's tested anyway. He went a whole 20 hours without breathing through his mouth or nose once. He would've tried for 24 hours but he can't control his breathing when he's sleeping.

So, Xun is forced to be washed away in this blood sea against his will but it's better than facing whatever killed the Worm Dragon. Even a person like him would have to use all of his hidden cards to get away from something as dangerous as a Worm Dragon. Don't even mention trying to kill it without trying. That's just a pipe dream at his current strength. Hopefully he'll be washed far away from what killed the worm. If not then, his poor little life is over before it even began.

* * *

'Stupid bug!' Li Li angrily thought as he was cleaning his feathers of the blood. He was perched on a branch of a tree.

Li Li has already captured the soul of the big bug that ate him and stored it for later. Having a peaceful death after ruining the gift for his mother is dreaming too big. Strong Lung managed to get away from him once again. How annoying... But at the very least, he didn't gain nothing from this hunt.

The body of the Worm Dragon was Li Li's and he planned on eating it whole. He flexed his qi outwardly to ward off any scavengers looking to steal his meal as he started to take apart the Worm piece by piece. It would've been convenient if no predators came during Li Li's feeding but the little owlet seemed to have forgotten that he was a simple 9th stage Qi Gatherer inside the middle area of the Immortal Forest. An area where beasts of the Consolidation and Core Preparation stage frequently feed. If anything, his qi presence was nothing more than a fart to the predators in the middle area.

The aftermath of those beasts ignoring Li Li's cute territorial mark, was being swallowed whole by the soul of the Worm Dragon. With each spirit beast swallowed, the strength of the Worm Dragon increased. Leaving Li Li to peacefully eat his humongous meal in peace. If the sight of a blood red owlet, feasting on a carcass many times bigger than it was wasn't strange enough then the fact that it could continue eating for hours without any signs of exploding from too much consumption surely would! Li Li ate the entire Worm Dragon without so much as a bulge showing from his stomach nor an increase in his size. The sight of it can only be constituted as unbelievable and impossible! It could only be said that Li Li was no mere beast but the embodiment of hunger itself! How else could one explain its infinite capacity to eat?!

'Worm Dragon might be my new favorite all time bug...' Li Li declared after finishing his meal.

He soon flew away back home as the sun was starting to set in the sky.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Next chappy we'll be with Jing for the whole chapter. Hopefully I'll have enough of an imagination to make the day last as long as my usual chapters last. I'm sort of creating this world and its stuff as it goes along. I accidentally put this story out before it was ready to be released but no worries! I think i'm doing a pretty good job so far and have enough material to go for a while longer. Xianxia doesn't take much imagination to make once you're past the initial stuff.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	27. Finding A Master!

After seeing Li Li off, Jing was fully awake. Her mission involving Tang Wuying and Gong Jun's duel in two days is ready for completion. With the refined boomerang she gave him, if he still couldn't get the best of Jun then he would be a giant waste of her time. Besides that, she has another matter to accomplish today.

Becoming an apprentice spellmaster. The required time for her to participate in a ranking match is coming soon and she can't go out as she is now. She has shown herself to be an untalented cultivator with a subpar talent at being a spellmaster. So, she would continue to play the part. But first, she needs to actually be practicing the art of formations. She needs to find herself a master that is willing to take someone as untalented and average as her in and keep her despite her horrible talent that she plans to improve to average talent in time.

Jing left her humble abode and proceeded to the Mission Hall. Inside the Mission Hall, there is a place where disciples can request to apprentice under elders. If they are lucky, they can meet in the same day they requested to meet with them. If they are unlucky, it could be several months until a meeting could be made. The latter only happens if it is a powerful and popular elder within the sect. Some say that those that have tried to meet with the Sect Leader have been waiting for years to meet with him.

Jing arrived in the Mission Hall filled with her fellow disciples. Most wearing the standard robe given to all disciples upon arrival in the sect. They were wearing white robes with golden streaks running down them. A golden serpent was laying bare on the front of the robe in an S shape. While Jing was walking towards the request desk, she looked around to see many disciples offering their own missions. If you had enough contribution points, you could use them as rewards for something to fulfill a request of your own.

If the mission giver didn't have the contribution points promised, they would be stripped from ever being allowed to give missions again and receive 100 lashing by one of the elders that run the Mission Hall for besmirching the good name of their hall. Even if you were one of the elder's blood and flesh, they'd still be unable to go easy on you. The rules of the Mission Hall are not meant to be broken or ignored.

"Selling talismans! I'm willing to sell each one for 10 spirit stones!" An apprentice spellmaster shouted.

"Selling Recovery Pills, Qi recovery pills, blood replenishing pills, and bone strengthening pills! Open to bargaining!" An apprentice alchemist yelled into the crowd of cultivators.

"Selling the hide of a Furred Anteater and the bones of a mysterious beast at the Qi Consolidation stage! Willing to accept spirit stones or mortal-ranked mystic treasures."

"Willing to give 50 mortal-ranked spirit stones for anyone that manages to kill Ying Yue or Ai Bing! Just bringing back their head is enough! 50 stones for each head!"

Jing had to stop herself from giggling after hearing that Bing and Ying had a bounty on them already. Just what fun activities have those two been doing without her knowing? Making enemies with someone in the sect without even telling her? If she was a bit more childish, she would want to tell them off for not including her. She does enjoy some chaos and mayhem. Maybe she'll try and make things a bit more chaotic in the future by sending the Huan clan a little message on the behalf of Bing. Jing is his master after all.

"Hello there. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to apprentice under a spellmaster. Can I see a list of all available elders?" Jing asked.

"No problem. Here you go." The average looking disciple gave her a book filled with the names of all the elders who practice formations and talismans.

Some of the names were crossed out, Jing figured that they were unable to take her as an apprentice and skipped those names. But most of the talented elders already had disciples and had their names crossed out, forcing Jing to pick from the worst of the bunch. She didn't know why no one wanted to disciple under these elders but would surely avoid the ones that had a skull marked next to their names.

'Elder Lang huh... I guess you'll have to do.' Jing chose.

There were about 4 other names she could have chose that didn't have a skull marked next to them or were crossed out but she chose Lang simply because her gut told her to. She handed the book back to the receptionist and asked where Elder Lang stayed.

"You can find Elder Lang on Crescent Mountain. He's usually the only one up there but sometimes he comes down to fill up on supplies or meet with the other spellmaster elders."

"Thank you." Jing said with a friendly smile before walking away.

Jing headed towards Crescent Mountain without delay. She was interested in seeing what type of person Elder Lang was. Is he going to be an arrogant old blind idiot like the rest of the elders she saw on her first day here or is he going to be different? If he discards her with a single look, she definitely isn't letting him go peacefully. With her latest martial arts she learned, she has been looking to test it on someone.

Hu Tao has been caught up in something along with the rest of her followers. Bing and Ying have a bounty out on their heads. Lei Zhi has gotten caught up in a duel just like the situation with Tang Wuying. Just what kind of troublemakers has she recruited to her cause? How is she going to be able to call herself their leader if she doesn't even know what the hell is going on in their lives? She wants to get involved in dangerous and crazy situations or at the very least know that they are going on.

Not only because she wishes to make them even worse. Her followers do need some better martial arts and items. What better way of getting stronger is there than stealing from those better off than you? She's doing them a favor once she finds out the exact situations, they found themselves in.

Knock! Knock!

"Hello? Elder Lang?" Jing rapped on his door.

Crash! Jing heard inside the medium-sized home the sound of something very heavy crashing to the floor.

"Oh geez. Dang it all to heck!" He loudly whispered. "Be there in a second! Just give me a moment!" He responded.

A playful smile crawled on Jing's face but she quickly drowned it back where it came. Deciding to toy with this man she doesn't even know based on their first interaction is too hasty. Let's see how things progress at first before deciding to mess with Elder Lang. She still hasn't even asked if he could be her master and teach her about formations.

The door swung open to reveal a scrawny, messily dressed, weak looking young man? His robes were wrinkled something fierce and weren't tightened completely. He had a kind smile on his face despite him and his home looking like a wild animal ran through them. Jing wanted to check if he was using a technique to hide his true age but she wouldn't know the first way of doing so.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Are you Elder Lang?"

"Yes, that is me. Did you make a mistake in choosing a spellmaster elder or did someone play a prank on you by looking for me?"

"I don't believe I made a mistake... Will you be my teacher in all things related to formations and talismans?" Jing asked kindly.

"Are... you sure...?" He asked dumbfounded that apparently someone would want to apprentice under him.

"Yes!" Jing answered with small determination behind her voice.

"Please come in then. Ignore the mess. I'll get it later."

Jing entered inside the messy home filled with talisman slips, books filled with spell patterns or different techniques, jars of spirit ink, brushes of varying sizes, and bookcases to hold those books. She wanted to be polite and not step on the things on the floor but saw Elder Lang just ignoring them completely so she did the same. He told her to wait at the small table while he went to go and make some tea for them.

'Lang must be quite the dedicated spellmaster. This type of mess doesn't come without a lot of research and practice.' Jing praised.

His demeanor obviously needs some improvement but she's excited to see how good of a spellmaster he is. Maybe he's a hidden dragon. How else could he have become an elder at such a young age? Well if he isn't hiding his age with some technique. Then he's even more pathetic than she would have thought.

"And here we go." Lang returned and placed their tea on the table.

Jing took a sip and it wasn't bad. Based on how he's living, it doesn't seem like he gets visitors often. So, this tea is better than she thought it would be.

"Thanks. It's nice." Jing told him.

A visible look of relief showed up on his face after her compliment. Oh dear.

"Before I accept you as my pupil, I must ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

Jing stared at him with acknowledgement.

"Do you have any experience in the arts of spellmastery?"

"Little."

No change in his expression with this answer.

"Are you aware of my background or status within the sect?

"No."

Surprise filled his eyes at this answer.

"How far are you planning to pursue in the path of arrays?"

"I wish to reach the peak of spellmastery!" Jing shouted weakly.

A peaceful smile appeared on Lang's face.

"Then I have no reason to not accept you as my disciple. From this day forth you can now refer to me as Master Lang."

"Thank you for accepting this disciple teacher. Discipline Jing."

"Fair warning... You are my very first disciple so, if you have anything you wish to say about me or my teaching methods please feel free to share with me your thoughts."

'Oh god.' Jing thought. "Will do teacher." Jing responded.

"When you said you have little experience with spellmastery, what have you worked with so far?" He asked.

"I've created 10 talismans with the spell Qi shield."

"That's a good start. How long did it take you to finish?"

"Around 12 hours."

"Very good! Much better than my first time. It took me over 3 days to create 10 talismans."

'I think you're just untalented...' Jing shared with herself.

"Is the Qi Shield spell pattern the only one you know?"

"Yes. It was the only one I could even hope to finish..." Jing meekly smiled.

"That's normal for all beginning spellmasters. Being able to etch spells takes time, focus, and patience. None of those are things that most youths are good at dealing with. So, it's understandable to be not so fast at the start, and besides speed is never something a spellmaster should focus on unless they are in battle. We won't get into how spellmasters fight for a while though. You must learn to crawl before you can walk."

"Yes teacher."

"To begin, let's have you make a qi shield spell again." Lang grabbed one of the hundreds of blank talisman slips on the floor along with a jar of spirit ink and a normal sized brush.

He placed the items in front of her and nodded to signal her to begin. Jing remembered the advice Shang Zhai gave her and slowly but surely started painting the qi shield pattern. She made sure to frequently look at the qi shield pattern every time she made the slightest movement so that it looked like she doesn't have it burned into her memory quite yet. It also made her look cautious and unconfident. She glanced at her master from time to time only to see him with a reassuring smile.

"You're doing fine Jing. Take your time. Your speed is the last thing I'm concerned about."

Jing made it look as if his words made her less tense. Her strokes became steadier and slower. She finished up the spell within 50 minutes and gave it to her master to look at it.

"Perfect work! Now let's test it."

Lang injected his qi within the talisman and threw it on the floor. The talisman lit with a purple flame as it attached itself to the floor. It burned into ash and from its ashes, a wide barrier made of qi appeared. Jing smiled in relief that her spell worked. Lang smiled along with her as he destroyed the barrier he made with his sword.

"Good! Your drawing style is fantastic. Who taught you how to draw like that?" He asked.

"A friend?" Jing replied unsure of her own answer.

"Well what a nice friend you have to share a drawing technique like that. Usually you only see those types of styles with families that has a deep history with making talismans."

"Oh!"

"For the rest of today, I can have you look over all these other spells. Most spellmasters choose a certain type of spells or formations to work with their fighting style. If they choose to become fighters that is. Some spellmasters choose to only sell their works and make a profit from them while others use them to fight. I'm guessing you would like to use your talismans to protect yourself and not make a profit right?"

"Yes master." Jing said with some sadness behind her eyes.

"No problem! The world is dangerous after all. Filled with all sorts of beasts and evil characters. Take a look through this spell book and tell me which category of spells you would like to focus on."

Jing grabbed the thick leather book and opened it. Elder Lang used the time to drink his tea. Jing could've flipped through this thing in around 30 minutes if Lang wasn't watching over her. It only takes her one glance to burn an image in her head. She could tell he was waiting for her to ask any questions and then answer her like a diligent master should.

Inside the book was hundreds of pages of spells and formations. They were separated into four types: Harming, Supportive, Trapping, and Movement. The harming one really made her insides tingle at the possibilities but she'll have to save those for when her master isn't with her. To tie in with her current personality, she'll go with trapping and movement. If her master wasn't around, she'd learn all four with a focus on harming and trapping.

"Is it okay if I choose two focuses?" Jing asked softly.

"That's no problem at all Jing. As your teacher, I'm here to help you with whatever you wish to accomplish. Which two are you interested in?"

"Trapping and Movement arrays."

Her master smiled.

"For some reason, I'm not surprised those are the two you picked. I can tell you're quite the kind and gentle person Jing."

"Pfft!" Jing had to cover her mouth to stop herself from bursting into laughter at the nonsense her master was saying. Such an easy and innocent fool.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned.

"Ah yes. Sorry I had a strange lump in the back of my throat." She lied.

"Which one would you like to start with first? Trapping or movement? It's commonly known that trapping is one of the hardest array types to utilize. It's constantly debated within the spellmaster community over which field of arrays is the most difficult with trapping and supportive being the only contenders. Harming and Movement are considered the easiest due to the simple nature of their creation and function to most spellmasters."

"Trapping!" Jing determinedly shouted.

"Very well. Let's start with the basics of all trapping formations. Creating a qi field."

"How do I do that?"

"You've already done it. Well, in theory anyway. What I mean is... a qi field is four qi shield spells formed into a formation."

"How do I make a formation?"

"To create a formation, you need to have a base to connect your spells to. Most cultivators use a sword as a base for their formations but really it would work with any material that can conduct qi well. Even chopsticks can be used as a base for a formation but it wouldn't be very durable and could shatter the formation if hit even once."

"So, what's stopping someone from breaking my base?"

"Good question and the answer to that is you are."

"Me?"

"You are the only defense for keeping your formation going. Without you, your enemy would destroy your base and do whatever they want to you."

"I still don't understand how I'm supposed to make this base and have it connected to all of my talismans."

"Watch me."

Lang grabbed four qi shield slips from his storage ring and set them on the table. He grabbed the spell book and moved each slip to each corner of the table. He then pulled out a 5th slip with a spiral pattern etched on it.

"What spell is that?" Jing asked curiously.

"This is the spell that connects your spells together: Conduit. You activate it by sending some qi through it and attaching it to your base." He taught while also showing her how it worked.

He sent his qi through the Conduit spell and slapped it on the spell book. The spiral pattern slowly manifested onto the surface of the book.

"Once the Conduit symbol has appeared on the base, it means it can now connect spells together to form a formation. Like this." He tapped each qi shield talisman with some qi.

The slips burned with a purple flame as they all turned into ash. From that ash, a bluish white barrier made of qi rose to the ceiling of the house. The qi barriers formed around the spell book in a square shape. Jing placed her hand on the barrier and found that she couldn't penetrate through the barrier. Not that she was trying to, of course but still, it was quite amazing to witness.

"Normally we would not be using a qi field formation to defend our base because that's the spellmaster's job not the formations but this was to answer your questions on how to form formations."

"Thank you, Teacher Lang!" Jing said like a grateful disciple. She then put a finger to her chin. "Is there a time where a spellmaster would use a formation to protect their base?"

"Not usually, but yes. During times of war or large scaled battles in which a formation cannot be destroyed or the battle would be lost with the destruction of the formation."

Jing nodded as she learned of another use of arrays and soon would spend the rest of the day learning the most basic of trapping spells and formations from her master. Well not learning how to use them but learning how to draw them with a brush successfully. It wouldn't be till the sun was lowering till she was dismissed and sent home. With her ranking match next month, she should learn enough by then to pass by as an apprentice spellmaster and not get kicked out of the sect.

Participating in a ranking match is required every 3 months or expulsion from the sect on the account of being too much of a weakling and coward to be a disciple of the Golden Serpent Sect. Effective way of keeping your disciples on their toes but Jing would change it to every month rather than 3 months. Just because it would add more pressure to the disciples. Seeing them frantically train just so they could stay inside the sect would be an amusing sight to witness.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Alrighty! Jing has publically declared herself a future formation master, arrayist, spellmaster, talisman maker, array specialist... I couldn't really decide on a name but I hope you all get that they are pretty much all the same thing.

As i was writing this chapter i came upon a startingly realization! I need to decide a weapon for Jing to use as a spellmaster! She can't use a whip because that's what her true self uses as a weapon! And no you can't choose a sword! I refuse to allow any of my main characters or main side characters use a sword unless its a special type of sword like a blunt sword, hook swords, or big ass swords. But yeah she isn't going to use a sword. I was thinking like a Giant Ink Brush but no that doesn't work, she's trying to be inconspicuous and that weapon as cool as it might be won't cut it.

ANYWAY! THIS HAS BEEN RATHER LONG! NEXT CHAPTER IS BING AND YING! After that Lei Zhi and Hu Tao then the duel!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	28. Sword and Shield Together Again!

Knock Knock!

A series of gentle hits landed on Bing's door. The round youth was in the middle of cultivating with his eyes closed and legs crossed upon the floor. He opened his eyes and wondered who could be at his door this early in the morning. He hoped it wasn't more of those annoying Huan disciples. But if it was... He hoped these ones at least had some goodies worth taking besides their bodies.

"Who is it?" He called out.

"It's me! Open up!" Ying answered.

Bing wondered what his friend? Could he call her that? They've been hanging out basically all week but can you call someone a friend just because of that? What about partner? Nah that one didn't feel right either. He shrugged his shoulders before standing up and opening the door.

Ying stood there in her oh so familiar glory. Terrifyingly huge monstrous looking sword that doesn't fit a girl of her beauty, a boyish gleam in her eyes, and that straightforward headstrong nature of her.

She grabbed his arm.

"Great! Follow me! I've haven't been able to stretch my body out much and needed more contribution points to buy a crystallized fire sac for my cultivation technique."

"Wait! I need to get dressed! I don't have my shield! I haven't even eaten breakfast!"

Ying looked down to see Bing still in his underwear and indeed ill-equipped for the task she had at hand.

"Hurry up and get ready pervert! No one is trying to see your nasty thing in the morning" She pushed him back into his house.

"You are the one that dragged me outside!" He complained rightfully as he heard his door slam behind him.

Bing started to pull out some comfortable clothes to wear. He disliked wearing the sect's robes because it didn't feel all that comfortable to fight in and when hanging with Ying, there was rarely a day where he doesn't fight. He doesn't blame her of course, not entirely anyway. Their fellow disciples loved to make trouble when there isn't any need for trouble! Ying doesn't go around looking to fight someone despite saying things that might indicate such a thing.

Ying just doesn't put up with any disrespect unless she disrespects someone first. Bing wishes she could just learn to ignore the taunting and mocking comments but that's an impossibility knowing her. He sighed in preparation for the many fights that are guaranteed to happen today. Bing grabbed his shield that was slowly getting bigger and bigger every day. When he first got it, the shield was no bigger than his head but now it's large enough to protect his entire stomach.

"Are you done yet!?" Ying yelled from outside.

"One moment!" Bing responded back.

Bing made sure he got everything he needed before walking outside and locking his door.

"Let's go!"

"Can't we go eat first?" Bing asked.

"You can eat once we get into the forest!"

Bing grumbled unhappily as they slowly made their way towards the Mission Hall.

"What task did you plan on picking?"

"Killing the Violet Horned Chameleon Queen."

Bing groaned.

"Do you even care about cultivation realms? That's a task that a cultivator at the early stages of Qi Consolidation would struggle with!"

"It was the weakest one that would give me enough points to get the crystallized fire sac."

"We could've done easier tasks that are more fit for cultivators of our stages till we got enough contribution points to get your sac."

"You're just scared of a challenge aren't you Bing?"

"When my life is at risk of being snuffed out, I wouldn't call it a challenge. A challenge shouldn't be something that puts your life on the line!"

"That weak type of thinking is why you're still a 3rd stage Qi Gatherer."

"No! I just started on my path later than most!"

"If you pushed yourself, you would already be at my rank."

"I feel like I'm progressing pretty fast though."

"Physically yes, but cultivation wise no. You're going down the same path as me since your cultivation technique is so weak."

"It's not like I had a choice in my cultivation technique! They aren't the easiest things to just come across you know."

"Why didn't you go to the Martial Pavillion to get a better cultivation martial art?"

"I didn't feel satisfied with any of them. None of them seemed like they really fit me."

"Then you should be going out on tasks to get the really good cultivation arts in the Exchange Hall."

Bing couldn't respond back to this one. He hasn't even looked inside the Exchange Hall yet. The only tasks he has been going on are easy ones that don't take much time or effort. So, his contribution points are meagre compared to Ying who regularly goes out on hunting tasks.

"There they are!"

Bing and Ying looked over to see a dozen or so disciples looking their way as they were a distance away from the Mission Hall.

"THOSE 100 SPIRIT STONES ARE MINE!"

"None of you bastards better take their heads before me!"

"Let me flay the Fatty alive! I wanna see his insides!"

The group of bloodthirsty disciples rushed towards them. Bing couldn't stop himself from sighing again. The day just started! Why does trouble always have to find a way towards him? Ying was just as confused as Bing but she wouldn't turn down a fight. She got in a fighting stance with her sword resting behind her on the ground.

"If you can take one hit from my blade, consider it your win!"

Ying slowly raised her large sword and rushed towards the incoming disciples with a single leap. She intended to slice them all in half with a single horizontal swing from her blade. Bing doubted those in front would be able to survive against that blade. In a few moments, the entrance to the Mission Hall would be filled with the numerous bodies cut in half.

Or it would be! If a passing elder didn't see the ground and decided to intervene. He appeared in the middle of both sides and used his qi to blast away both sides. Ying wasn't foolish enough to try and kill an elder of the sect. She willingly let herself be blasted away back towards Bing while the disciples after their heads was blasted towards the Mission Hall. Bing roughly caught Ying's body and gently let her down. That sword is much heavier than he thought. He almost fell over trying to catch Ying and her sword.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"If you little rascals wish to cause trouble, please do it outside the sect or at the very least challenge them to a ranking match. Do none of you have any self-respect? All this for a single girl and a fat boy? Disgraceful." He scoffed before slowly walking away.

Shame hung around the heads of the disciples but their greed for the spirit stones overpowered the words of the mysterious elder. They kept their eyes on Ying and Bing but didn't choose to attack them.

"I think we should cancel today's plans and save it for another time..." Bing suggested.

"Nope. We're killing that Queen Chameleon. If those weaklings dare to follow us, we'll just kill them and the chameleon!" Ying grabbed Bing's arm and forced him to follow behind her.

"What if that isn't their entire force! What if someone took the chameleon task!? I still haven't ate breakfast!" He cried as they entered inside the Mission Hall.

…

Ying and Bing arrived outside the sect. Ying accepted the task for killing the chameleon queen and now they were walking through the Immortal Forest. The chameleon queen was said to possibly be near a village that lives inside the Immortal Forest. A spirit beast of that level shouldn't be hanging around the outer area of the Immortal Forest. It's their job to kill it and stop its offspring from harassing the village that's under the protection of the Golden Serpent Sect.

This job would be a lot simpler if they didn't have a large group of disciples following behind them wanting to kill them. Ying was leading them towards a large opening within the forest so they could get rid of them. If they wanted trouble, she's glad to give them what they want. Bing was more annoyed with the situation than Ying was. He planned on finding out exactly who placed a bounty of 100 spirit stones on their heads and getting payback.

Ying found an open clearing.

"COME ON OUT YOU COWARDS! I HOPE YOU ALL WRITTEN YOUR WILLS BECAUSE NONE OF YOU ARE MAKING IT BACK TO THE SECT ALIVE!" Ying shouted.

She heard them cackling as they came out into the clearing. Lust, greed, and killing intent radiated from their group. The battle was close to starting and all the fighters were getting ready. Bing's flesh began shaping itself into muscle as it used his qi to strengthen his body. An extra pair of arms formed from the side of his torso. The ground beneath his feet started to sink from the strength of his body martial art. His cold eyes stared at his opponents as his fortified and built body radiated with strength.

Ying smirked as she saw this side of Bing. If he acted this cool all the time, she was sure she would fall for the fatty. But she wouldn't let him take the spotlight! Ying's body ignited in flames. The fire took hold of her body and transformed her. Her orange hair turned into a hair made of flames, the eyes within her head burned with a small flame, and her sword transformed into a giant mass of fire.

"KILL EM!"

The group charged towards the two and Ying took a single swing with her blade.

Fwoosh!

A giant blade of fire qi flew towards the incoming disciples. The strength of that attack refused to leave any survivors. It cut through the bodies of the attackers and burned their remains into ash. Bing stood there blinking blankly.

"What a bunch of weaklings!" Ying mocked as she returned back to her normal form.

"I guess I shouldn't have been so worried after all." Bing smiled while rubbing the back of his head.

He returned back to his round physique.

"They better increase our bounty after this. If anyone's going to come after me, they need to at least be able to stand a single attack of mine."

"I'd prefer not to have any bounty at all..." Bing said softly.

"Let's go take out that Chameleon!"

It would take a few hours until the two could find any trace of the chameleon queen. The two were exploring near the village that sent in the information about the queen and got attacked by one of the children of the Violet Horned Chameleon Queen. The tiger-sized reptilian suddenly appeared atop a tree and shot its tongue out towards Bing. Bing barely managed to react in time to the ambush attack. He blocked with his shield and engaged in a tug of war with the large beast. He was able to overpower the beast as it had yet to form a beast core and was unable to use qi to strengthen its body. He pulled the chameleon towards him and punched it into the ground underneath him.

Ying finished the beast off with a single downward swing and smiled at Bing.

"Teamwork."

"Ah yea... Teamwork." Bing agreed, still not over being surprised about the chameleon attack.

Bing was about to use his Devil Arm's martial art on the fallen beast to strengthen his physique but the duo soon began hearing multiple hissing sounds all around them. They got into defensive positions with their backs touching. Numerous chameleons started revealing themselves while staring at Bing and Ying.

"That is a lot of chameleons..." Ying commented.

"Chameleons are solitary beasts! They never group together! The Queen must be nearby!" Bing said.

"Any ideas!?" Ying asked.

"Just one!"

Bing pulled Ying close as the hissing reached its peak and the chameleons all shot their tongues towards the two.

"Bone Dome!" Bing let his blood drip onto his shield and slammed it into the ground

The two were seconds away from being submerged chameleon tongues and slowly melted alive from their acidity saliva. But just as close as they were to death, a large amount of bones shot up from the ground and encompassed Bing and Ying in a circular mound. The sphere of bones rattled from beasts' attacks but did not crumble and break. Even the melting liquid from their tongues had no effect on the bones.

"I knew we shouldn't have taken this task..." Bing whined.

"Shut up ya big baby. We might have almost just died but that doesn't mean we should give up!"

"No one said anything about giving up..." Bing murmured.

"Then quit yapping and give me some room. Doing this move takes a lot out of me but I don't see how else are we gonna get out of this situation without it."

"Fine..." Bing gave Ying as much room as possible and crouched down low with his shield held close to his face.

Ying closed her eyes as she gathered her qi. She slowly started spinning with her greatsword. The temperature started to rise from her body as her speed began to increase. Bing felt the fierce heat from blazing from Ying and gritted his teeth.

"Ring of Flames!" Ying yelled.

Fire qi shot out from Ying's giant sword in a circular form. Bing demolished his bone dome just when Ying released her attack and the ring of fire flew towards the chameleons surrounding them. The beasts couldn't escape in time and were forced to burn alive with terrible screeches. Ying smiled with relief as she dropped to the ground, low on qi.

Bing looked around to see their surroundings being nothing but flames and burning carcasses.

'Seriously... How terrifying.'

He got up and saw that Ying was on the floor.

"Feed me a Qi recovery pill please." Ying asked.

Bing was about to do as she said but before he could reach into her pocket, he felt a terrifying presence staring down on him. He looked up and saw the target of their task. The large purple reptilian mother that was larger than the trees that used to be around them. It seems she wasn't pleased with Ying killing her offspring nor Bing trying to help the killer of her children. The murderous intent emitting from her body made Bing shiver uncontrollably. But he knew if he didn't do something, both him and Ying would die. The Queen struck without warning.

Bing hastily raised his shield and blocked the immense power of her tongue strike. It took most of his power to remain standing in front of Ying. He knew he couldn't withstand another attack like that without being blown away and leaving Ying helpless. He has to get this thing away from Ying.

"Swift Devil!" He blasted towards the 9th stage Qi Gathering spirit beast.

He knocked it and himself a safe distance away from Ying and managed to bruise its side.

"I'll distract it for as long as I can! Try and recover before I die please!" Bing shouted as he used his auxiliary and body martial art to increase his physique and defensive power.

Ying gritted her teeth in anger. The stupid queen just had to attack when she was at her lowest. If she and Bing were at full strength and ready for her they could've easily taken her out. Most beasts can't withstand a single swing of her blade. She doubted a spirit beast like the Violet Horned Chameleon Queen could take her sword either. Ying struggled while reaching into her pocket for a qi recovery pill. Her sword was sending her emotional waves of concern before a feeling of curiosity and hunger overcame it. She was confused.

The feeling she got from her sword told her to feed it one of the leftover bones from Bing's dome. She grabbed one of the bones and angrily looked at her sword.

'How the hell am I supposed to feed a sword!?'

The sword rapidly blinked at her and she hesitantly moved the bone shard towards the eyeball. The eyeball opened up to reveal a set of human teeth behind them that chomped the bone shard with relish. Ying was normally not one for screaming but seeing such an abnormal and terrifying sight made her gasp with shock. She saw that her sword was starting to change in form. The previous silver steel started to change into something thornier and bone-like. Bone spikes began jutting out from the blunt side of the blade as it turned into a large bone sword with the eye still at the base of the sword.

'Since when could you do something like this you dumb sword!?' Ying questioned.

The sword sent her a feeling that made her smack it in anger. It says it forgot.

"Ying! Anytime now please!" Bing shouted towards her with his muscled body covered in blood.

Ying used her sword as support to stand up. She lifted her sword with careful precision and slashed down towards the queen. The queen's tongue was stuck to Bing's shield as he grasped her tongue with three of his hands to keep her still. Ying's slash produced large bone spikes out of the ground that rushed towards the immobile Queen. The queen could see the incoming bones and desperately tried to free herself from Bing. Bing doubled down and used all of his qi to keep his hold on the queen. He ignored all the pain he was feeling from the acid-like saliva burning his hands and slammed the Chameleon Queen into the ground.

She cried out as Ying's bone spikes punctured through her body. Blood flowed throughout the numerous holes in her body. Bing dropped to the ground breathing heavily. His extra pair of arms vanished and his belly reappeared. He reached into his pocket and ate a recovery pill to heal his burned hands and internal injuries.

Ying saw that her sword transformed back to its normal state and cursed. She swallowed a qi recovery pill and walked over to Bing.

"See, I told you we could handle it." Ying said joyfully.

Bing stared at her with a deadpan expression.

"Haha! Cheer up Bing! I promise to be more careful next time." She used her storage ring to absorb the dead body of the Queen Chameleon.

She could see his dissatisfaction.

"Okay what if we find you a better cultivation technique? Nothing less than an Earth-ranked one either! Even I only have one earth martial technique!" Ying suggested.

"Fine. Let's just get back to the sect already. Facing life or death situations is just something I'll have to get used to as a cultivator anyway..."

"That's the spirit!" She smacked Bing on the back harshly, causing him to wince in pain and try and massage his back.

Ying laughed like an innocent young girl while running on ahead as Bing cried out in pain from her slap. He couldn't reach his back with his short and thick arms.

"Grah! Can't you control your strength!?"

"I'll think about it!" She stuck her tongue out as she turned and playfully skipped away.

"NEXT TIME I'M PICKING THE DANGEROUS TASK!" He shouted at her.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next chaptzhi we'll be with Lei Zhi and another. Then its the long awaited duel between Tang and Gong! It's not like the arc's finale or anything like that. It's just the end of long thing coming!

But besides that, I hope I managed to express these two characters well and their dynamic. In the future i wish to do this with all the members of Jing's team and let everyone see how they function as a two-man team, three-man teams, alone, and more. I haven't planned that far but i do look forward to trying to write it.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	29. The Old Man & The Rowdy Youth!

"Big Brother you have to show that blind fool whose boss or else he'll be spitting on our family name!" Sying pleaded.

"You little! You think I haven't heard how you disgraced our family by losing to said, "blind fool" I heard that he toyed with you and completely embarrassed you." Ming angrily smacked his brother.

Sying's plead was caught in his throat. It turns out one of his followers told the news to his big brother before he did. Those little pieces of shit! Next time he sees them he'll kill them without a proper burial! The stinging pain on his face only fueled his anger towards the old blind fool.

"But Big Brother can't you see that he doesn't put our family in his eyes if he's willing to do such a humiliating and violent thing to me? You have to show him a lesson if not for me, then for our family name."

This caused Ming to ponder. His name was pretty popular within the Outer Court given that he was 7th ranked disciple. There couldn't be anyone that didn't know of his name. So, this fool who showed his little brother a lesson must have known he would eventually hear about it. They must really have some balls then.

"Fine. You may be pathetic but you are still my little brother. Let's go find this blind fool. Bring me to him."

Ming got up from his chair and allowed his weak little brother to take him to the one that doesn't have their family in his eyes.

* * *

"What a strange beast..." Lei Zhi commented as he held out his hand to feel the skin of the floating spirit beast.

The beast's skin felt very smooth and leathery. It was much larger than him and would have no problem swallowing him whole. The beast seemed to have hands instead of fins like most fish do. The scariest part of this shark-like monster besides the teeth was the complete lack of any eyes. It was blind just like him but Lei Zhi felt as if this creature would have no problem searching for any type of prey.

He could feel a connection with this fish he reeled out with his fishing hook. It would listen to any commands he gave it and wouldn't even mind dying for him. Just like the other aquatic creatures he pulled out from his fishing rod, this one could somehow breathe on land and float as if it was swimming in water. Just what kind of spirit tool was he given? How did she get her hands on something like this? And why would she gift it to someone like him?

Lei Zhi sighed. This was all a bit much to take in considering his life was anything but whatever this is. He would have to take this all one step at a time. Being hasty would benefit no one. Lei Zhi rubbed the skin of the shark monster and suddenly sensed 2 figures outside his shack. He casted his fishing hook back into the unknown and ordered the shark to go back home.

The shark swam inside the multi-colored slit and disappeared from Lei Zhi's home just as his door was broken down by a familiar face.

"Show yourself senile bat!" Sying ordered.

"Ah Young Master Sying, welcome to my home." Lei Zhi kindly smiled.

Ming's face scrunched up.

"I've gotten my big brother here to show you a lesson you'll never forget!"

"Hello Young Master Ming, how are you?" Lei Zhi greeted.

"I'm not here for pleasantries you blind git. I heard you thoroughly embarrassed my little brother. He may be a disappointment in the family but he is still part of our lineage. I'll give you a chance of living if you kowtow 3 times to him and apologize for not putting our bloodline in your eyes." Ming commanded.

Lei Zhi was a bit confused on how this situation was going to play out but at least it didn't dissolve into violence immediately. Not to mention that Ming was a peak 7th stage Qi Gatherer! Lei Zhi would stand no chance against him without sufficient preparation.

"I must apologize Young Master Ming, I cannot kowtow and apologize for no reason. I've done nothing wrong that I feel I should apologize for." Lei Zhi politely said.

Boom! Ming outwardly blasted his qi towards Lei Zhi. Lei Zhi smashed into his wall from the force and fell onto the floor. He gripped his fishing rod to defend himself if any further attacks come.

"Don't be stubborn and save yourself the pain. You are already on the floor, start apologizing." Ming ordered with an air of superiority.

Lei Zhi slowly stood up with his back straight. He looked into the eyes of Ming.

"I refuse."

"You really are just a blind fool. No one will miss you anyway I suppose." His flared his qi once more, intending to do more than just knock Lei Zhi into the wall this time.

Lei Zhi attempted to fish in an aquatic ally but the force from the qi didn't allow his hook to fly. He was helpless against this show of strength even with the gifts he was given by Jing. The only thing he was feeling was sorrow for not being able to live up to Jing's expectations. But that wouldn't mean he would go down without at least trying. He didn't get to this age by luck alone! He flared all the qi in his body to fight against the powerful qi of Ming and fish in a helpful beast.

"Is there a fight I smell?" A figure popped his head in from the hole in the wall made by Lei Zhi.

The figure was wrapped in black chains along with a large metal ball dragging behind his feet. Did someone lose their prisoner? What was this guy doing here?! Who the hell even was he?!

"Hu Tao!?" Ming exclaimed in shock before reeling in his qi.

"Are you bastards in here fighting without me?" He grinned widely.

Ming rapidly shook his head as sweat began to rapidly pour from his body.

"So, I'm stupid now little Ming is that it? You're calling me a braindead fucking retard is it?"

"No sir I would never! I wouldn't be caught dead calling you anything of the sort! Not even if I was given a sky-ranked martial art!"

"That's what it's sounding like you're calling me because I'm sure someone was fighting in here!"

"What was happening was just a simple training exercise between me and my junior disciple brother. Nothing even remotely similar to a fight Hu Tao! I promise you!" Ming rapidly spat out.

"Hmm..." He looked towards Lei Zhi and then his fishing rod.

"Was you fighting here old man?"

Lei Zhi didn't understand what exactly was the relationship between Ming and Hu Tao was but he has surely heard the many rumors of Hu Tao throughout the sect. The boy was the 10th ranked disciple in the Outer Court. He was known for fighting anyone and everything without a shred of passion or mercy. His rise to prominence through the ranking matches were so brutal, many refused to challenge him and surrendered immediately if they had to face him. With so many challengers giving up, Hu Tao was forced to find other ways of making people fight him. Which was usually annoying them to death.

"Not anymore thanks to you, young man." Lei Zhi responded.

"So, there was a fight!" Hu Tao whipped his fist out.

The sound of metal meeting flesh entered the ears of everyone inside the shack. Hu Tao's metal ball crashed into the face of Ming and sent him flying into the fishing pond outside. Several teeth were knocked down his throat and his face looked dented in but Hu Tao was sure he was still alive.

"Next time you lie to me, Ming I won't go easy on you like I did today." Hu Tao warned.

Lei Zhi and Sying's eyes widened in shock. That was considered going easy?! They didn't dare want to see what going all out looked like. Sying stood at the door shivering in fright while Lei Zhi was also a bit frightened by the youth. He has heard many horrifying stories involving the boy. Sying ran away towards his brother before he soiled his clothes out of terror.

"Hey old man where you get that fishing pole?"

"It was a gift..."

"From who?"

"I cannot disclose that information, I apologize."

Hu Tao walked up to Lei Zhi. Lei Zhi was taller than the boy but the strength difference made him seem like a child compared to Hu Tao. He glared at him while slowly releasing his qi. Lei Zhi was having trouble breathing. His lungs felt as if they were being slowly choked by Hu Tao and his body felt weak. He could barely stand or breathe but he couldn't give away Jing's identity. That was one of the rules he was given by her. Even in the face of death, he was to not give away who gave him his fishing rod or she would personally bring him back from the reincarnation wheel and make him regret ever revealing her.

"I cannot tell you Hu Tao. No matter how much pain you put me through." Lei Zhi could feel his blood rushing to his throat.

He smirked.

"It's Jing ain't it?" He asked without a shred of doubt.

Lei Zhi is not a fool. He didn't act as if he recognized the name at all and simply kept the same determined expression as before. He didn't live this long without a few tricks. If he slipped up at her name, he'd be the biggest fool around.

"She made you one of her followers too huh? I guess she ain't picky when she can get stuff like this." Hu Tao's chains sparked before turning into lightning.

"What kind of spirit weapon is that!?" Lei Zhi asked shocked.

"Amazing ain't it? That sadistic bitch has some good shit. I don't know where she gets it from but she's interesting enough." He smiled cheekily. "I guess being her underling isn't so bad if she's giving this stuff away like candy." The lightning reverted back to a metal ball and chain.

Lei Zhi was now 100% sure that Hu Tao was on the same side as him.

"Yes, I got my new fishing rod from her. She gave it to me once I agreed to join her in changing the sect for the better."

"She kicked my ass and that's why I joined her." Hu Tao casually stated before sitting on Lei Zhi's bed and twirling the metal ball with his finger.

"I appreciate you helping me out there."

"Who said I was helping you oldie? I was just looking to see if there was a fight for me to join before I entered the Inner Court."

"I still appreciate it nonetheless."

"So, what can your rod do? I know it just doesn't make you a better fisher."

"It'll be easier if I show you. Follow me outside. I can't really control how big or dangerous these fishes can be. It's all random." Lei Zhi said.

Hu Tao followed Lei Zhi outside. Lei Zhi reared his fishing pole back before throwing his hook into the universal slit.

After casting, he stood up straight and ready. He's only done this a few times so far and every time he was amazed at the type of fishes he's caught. He's seen things he's never seen before or even heard about. It was so amazing, that each catch made him feel 30 years younger.

He felt a tug on the line. Lei Zhi squared his shoulders and braced his legs before using all the strength in his body to pull out the mysterious beast. Hu Tao watched in mild interest. The aquatic animal came out head first and boy did it look angry. The eyes seemed to be in a perpetual state of indifference or rage but the beast wasn't thrashing wildly or attacking as its full body exited from the slit. Lei Zhi's fishing hook was hooked into the claw of the creature.

It was a giant crab. The large powerful claws of the crustacean looked strong enough to pincer a small mountain in half! The frightening mouth lined up with sharp teeth that would stab and slowly drag its prey deeper into its mouth would make any average person faint just at the sight of it! Its glowing four eyes lit up with a certain level of intelligence hidden behind them. This creature was anything but a typical crab!

Lei Zhi was slightly distressed at the size of the creature. It was taller than the trees surrounding this part of the area. One of the elders might investigate if they see this thing. It seems the crab sensed his discomfort. It started shrinking in size till it reached the size of an ox. It skittered over to him with its 6 crab legs and looked at him with interest.

"A crab huh? I wonder how strong this thing is." Hu Tao questioned.

"Anything I fish out has the same cultivation as me but I found out that just because it has the same cultivation as me doesn't mean it's as strong as me. I usually find out that they are much stronger than their cultivation suggests. You can try fighting against her if you want." Lei Zhi informed.

"You can tell that's a girl?"

"I just kind of know." Lei Zhi said, not sure of how it works himself.

"Let me lower my qi to a respectable level before I do this warmup." Hu Tao said with an air of confidence.

He lowered the strength of his qi to the level of the average 4th stage Qi Gatherer before pouncing towards the crab. Lei Zhi could still keep up with Hu Tao's movement with his senses but he doubted he would be able to react with his body. Even if he lowered his qi amount to a 4th stage, his natural body strength can't be reduced to the same level of strength as a 4th stage. In a normal cultivator's eyes, Hu Tao just disappeared right in front of them!

The crab hammered Hu Tao into the ground before it could reach it. Once it saw that he was immobilized, it quickly started pounding away with its huge meaty claws. The grin on Hu Tao's face got wider and wider each time he was hit further into the ground.

'Now this is it!'

Hu Tao kicked out with his legs, knocking the crab's claws up into the air. He dragged his body out of the dirt and his chains shot out to wrap around the claws of the crustacean. The crab skuttled backwards out of the way and rushed to charge into Hu Tao.

"Come on ya damn beast. Just try and take me on!" Hu Tao jumped forward with a rising knee.

The hardened and shining red shell of the crab clashed against the mighty strength of Hu Tao. At first it seemed equal in strength between the two but this stalemate didn't last long. The crab was slowly overpowering Hu Tao!

"Hahaha you son of a bitch!" Hu Tao's chains started to wrap around the large crab.

The beast was unable to resist as the chains infinitely extended from Hu Tao's body and wrapped up the claws of the crab. It tried shaking the chains off before realizing that wasn't going to work. Hu Tao smirked and gave the spirit beast one last chance before he ended this. The crab smashed the chains against the ground and it only tighten them around its arms.

"Times up!" Hu Tao grinned.

He pulled the chains and lifted the hefty crustacean in the air. The ox-sized beast soared in the air before being dropped down harshly on the ground and then lifted up again and smashed into the ground once more. Hu Tao was visibly impressed. He didn't see a single crack or dent in the shell of the crab no matter how many times he threw it into the ground. He just found his third training buddy!

Hu Tao jumped high into the air. The crab was lying on its back and the soft underbelly was all too visible for Hu Tao. The crab hasn't given up though. It used its legs to protect its underside and cut off all chances for Hu Tao to take advantage of its innate weakness.

"That won't protect you little crabby! Awooo!" He howled.

Two red shadows made of qi split from Hu Tao's Body. They resembled him perfectly and got in sync with him. The three held the metal ball above their heads and surged qi into it. Hu Tao's metal ball enlarged into a size greater than the crab! His shadows' balls matched the original's and they all slammed it into the crab below them.

"No fucking way!" Hu Tao shouted excitedly.

The crab's legs held up against his attack and quickly flipped the situation. After defending against the triple attack successfully, the crab's sharp pointed legs pierced and punctured his clones before attempting to impale him as well. This fucking crab wasn't a joke! He couldn't play around with this thing if he wanted to end this.

Hu Tao's chains protected him from the crab's fearsome legs and knocked him away. It rolled itself over and back on its feet. It looked at Hu Tao with a calm look in its eyes. There was no anger, no hunger, no impatience within the spirit beast. Only the thought of dealing with the enemy was within its eyes.

'This beast is smarter than I thought it was. No... She is smarter than I thought she was.' Hu Tao corrected himself.

Hu Tao's chains snaked towards her. She rushed towards him and as soon as his chains were about to grab her, she shrunk in size and ran along the chains to get Hu Tao.

"You fucking bitch! Hahaha! You're kidding!"

She leapt above him once she got close enough on the chains and grew back to ox size. She raised her claw as she attempted to hammer him into the ground. Hu Tao madly smiled as he smashed his fists together and punched towards the incoming claw. The impact of their clash knocked them both away but not out of the fight.

Hu Tao sighed.

"If we go any further, I wouldn't be able to hold myself back. Let's end this here old man. I wouldn't wanna kill someone as fun as this when she hasn't even grown to her full potential."

Lei Zhi smiled. He went over to his crab and she shrunk in size till she could fit on his shoulder. He rubbed her head and she clapped her claws together in pleasure.

"I hope you two had your fun. It was nice meeting you Hu Tao. The rumors about you paint you out to be much worse than you are."

"Nah that ain't it old man. I was just told I couldn't treat any team mates like I wanted unless I wanted to get killed by Jing. See ya around."

Hu Tao left Lei Zhi and his new companion behind. Lei Zhi was glad that guy was on his side. He is truly fortunate that someone like Jing decided to take him in as a follower. Without her, he's sure that he himself would still be wasting his life away in this sect without any chance of advancing. He will make sure to live up to her expectations and succeed in the dreams he had no chance of accomplishing alone.

"I'll have to give you a name don't I? What do you think about the name Xiurong?" He saw her rubbing her claws together.

He didn't know what that meant but took it as an agreement.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tell me what kind of personality you got from Lei Zhi this chapter. I'm not sure i'm writing him as i planned to.

But besides that! Next chapter is Tang Wuying vs Gong Jun!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	30. Tang Wuying VS Gong Jun!

The sect was quite active this morning. Jing saw crowds of excited disciples rushing over to the dueling rings. The hype of two geniuses battling was rather large apparently. The only time she saw crowds even remotely close to this size was at the beginning of the month when it was time to get monthly stones.

Li Li was perched on her shoulder like usual. It seemed he picked up the excitement in the air and also couldn't wait to see the fight. But he was still just a child, it was easy for him to get affected by the emotions of those around him. She rubbed his excited feathers to try and calm him.

She followed the crowd and acted just as excited as they were. She also managed to sense Bing and Ying within the crowd. They were walking together while talking about who they thought was going to win.

Jing figured they must have wanted to see the fight for themselves after she ordered them to investigate where Tang and Gong lived. It could also be that they just wanted to see a fight. Which is the reason why she thought Hu Tao was here as well. She doubted he had any personal interest in either Tang or Gong, they were both weaker than him after all.

Jing made it to the dueling ring where the two would be fighting each other. The sect graciously built enough stands for people to sit knowing that this duel wouldn't be ignored despite how recently the two prodigies joined the sect. Jing randomly picked a seat without much consideration. Not too far down and not too high up. Right in the middle of the wooden bleachers. The perfect spot for someone like her.

But it wasn't long until something decided to ruin her plans of watching this fight as an unassuming normal. That something came in the form of three familiar persons. One on her left, one on her right, and the last one sitting behind her with an annoying grin. Did these idiots know they were compromising her identity!?

'What if someone decided to investigate the fact that you three decided to sit next to me?!'

These three better not talk to her all casually!

"Hey there Jing." Hu Tao grinned.

"Do not speak to me so familiarly or I'll break you." Jing warned under her breath.

"Ooh yeah. You didn't want anyone to know that you were gatherin-"

Jing back fisted Hu Tao with such speed that even Ying and Bing could barely see her arm move and they were sitting right next to her! Hu Tao lurched backwards from the force of the punch and had a bloody nose. With his head launched back, he started laughing loudly as if the pain was nothing but a joke to him.

"Alright, alright, I was just kidding you know. No need to get so sensitive about it." Hu Tao smiled.

Ying and Bing didn't want to get hurt like Hu Tao and silently agreed to completely ignore Jing and not to say a single word to her. They didn't know if they would be able to shrug off a punch from her like Hu Tao. Don't let it be forgotten that Hu Tao has reached the 1st stage of the Consolidation realm either! A punch from a 2nd stage Qi Gatherer made someone like that back off!

"Haven't you heard about Tang Wuying?!"

"No, what happened?"

"He's like a completely different person now! Now no one knows who could possibly win in this fight anymore!"

"What do you mean he's different? Did he learn some sky-ranked martial art or something?"

"He had a fortuitous encounter and became a completely different person! It's rumored that he has found an ancient treasured weapon that functions both as a spirit weapon and a spirit tool!"

"If its just a rumor then I don't believe you."

"Just wait! It's a weird weapon! I saw it for myself! It's said that he is never seen without it!"

The seated crowd suddenly started cheering loudly. Jing looked over to see the main stars approaching the dueling ring. Tang walked towards the ring with a confident smirk. His handsome face paired with his new tattoos made him look dangerously attractive. The large boomerang strapped to his back did invite many curious looks. Many of those watching have never seen a weapon of such size and shape like that one. Some even wanted to get one of their own just because of how cool Tang Wuying looked holding one on his back.

Gong Jun walked towards the ring with a kind smile. The type of smile that made you think that he was only doing this because his junior asked instead of an actual duel meant to be taken seriously. His contrasting appearance to Tang's made him look like an elegant regal prince in comparison. He also had his own fan club within the sect that was trying to scream over Tang Wuying's fan club.

Their master was also walking behind them. Is he going to be the referee for this duel? It would make sense if he was. Those two are talented young geniuses, he would no doubt wish for them to both come out of this alive and not crippled. Elder Mo's other disciples were also following behind him. They sat closer to the ring than anyone else. The strength on those three were quite impressive. Jing doubted her followers could hold a candle to them for a while. Even Hu Tao who was her strongest underling couldn't take that easygoing looking boy with the spear.

Elder Mo wasn't the only head elder present though, Elder Ru and Elder Chang were also here with their disciples to watch. Even the head librarian was here to watch the duel between the two. Jing doubted that Tang Wuying and Gong Jun warranted this much attention. There has to be something else going on here beneath the surface. She just has to look deeper into it.

* * *

Tang Wuying arrived on stage with his Fourth Senior. They stood across from each other and he could see his Fourth Senior smirking at him. That bastard's still not taking him seriously! He hasn't ever taken him seriously and Tang plans on forcing him to recognize that he is a threat to him. Even when they first met, he looked at him with those same condescending eyes, telling him that he'll never be on his level and he will always be beneath him like an ant.

"Are you prepared to be humiliated Fourth Senior? Ready to see that I am more talented than you are? Ready to see that I am more powerful than you? Ready to acknowledge that I am not just a brat and I'm better than you!?"

"Little Tang, I have always believed in your talent." Gong Jun responded with that disgusting fake smile of his.

"Don't joke around at a time like this! If you even think about holding back, I won't be able to help myself if I accidentally kill you." Tang said wickedly.

"If I died from sparing with you little Tang, I would be able to perish in peace. Please spare me from such a fate so soon though." He said with fake sincerity.

"Keep smiling. Just wait till I wipe that filthy smile off your face and show you just how strong I really am." Tang muttered.

"Are you two brats ready?" Elder Mo asked, standing in the ring.

"Yes, master." They both responded.

"Begin!"

They vanished from as soon as the match started. Tang leapt towards Gong with his boomerang in his hands. Gong rushed towards Tang with his sword. Tang swung down towards Gong's neck. If something the size of that boomerang landed on Gong, then he could surely say goodbye to his head. Especially with the unbelievable speed that Tang just shown to everyone.

"I can't believe it!"

"Where did they go!?"

"Third Junior has definitely improved in his training." Jian complimented.

"You can say that again. It's going to be harder to tease him if he keeps this up." Chao laughed.

"DIE!" Tang shouted.

"No thanks Little Tang." Gong responded as he clashed with Tang's weapon.

It seemed that Tang had the edge in strength. His boomerang was inching closer and closer to Gong's neck but Gong didn't look worried in the slightest. This unnerved Tang but he didn't let it stop his momentum. He continued forward and didn't back down from whatever his Fourth Senior was planning.

"Flowing River Style: Yellow Water Blade." Gong said.

Gong shifted his blade to the side, causing Tang's boomerang to slide off his weapon and smash his boomerang into the floor. A small chunk of the arena was broken upon impact with Tang's weapon. His Fourth Senior took advantage of his current moment of weakness.

"Flowing River Style: Blue Water Blade."

Gong Jun stabbed forward with the momentum of 10 raging rivers. Water flowed around his blade like a majestic serpent. The strength of this attack caused many within the audience to gasp in shock. This attack would easily kill any average 8th stage Qi Gatherer and threaten the life of weakest 9th stage Qi Gatherers! He used such a powerful move on his own Junior Brother!

"Don't look down on me you bastard! Wild Tempest!" Tang shouted in retaliation.

A golden aura flowed around Tang and his body spun around just in time to match Gong's attack but this didn't end up like the first clash. Tang continually spun with his boomerang and attacked Gong. Gong was forced to slowly lose ground from the onslaught of attacks. Each attack from Tang seemed to get stronger every time he turned around to attack him, Gong, being the prodigy that he is, immediately figured out his next plan of action.

"Flowing River Style: Yellow Water Blade!"

Tang's endless storm of fierce attacks was rendered useless by the defensive style of Gong's blade. Each swing of his was harmlessly deflected away by the sword. His Fourth Senior's body was stronger than he thought if he could handle the strength of his attacks so easily. His arms should be shaking or on the verge of dropping by now if it wasn't.

"You can't block forever Fourth Senior! I can keep this going forever!" Tang boasted.

His speed and power was ramping up with every spin. Soon, even with Fourth Senior's strong body, he wouldn't be able to handle him. Tang Wuying kept his eye on any signs of his senior breaking.

'There! His legs are shaking! Just a couple more swings before I can crush him!'

Tang managed to break through Gong's defense and his body was unguarded! Now's his chance to strike!

"This is the end!"

He swung his boomerang down towards Gong's head with elation. This is it! He will show his Fourth Senior he's not a joke! He is even better than him! He's stronger than him! If he won't take him seriously, he'll be forced to with this loss!

Gong Jun suddenly grinned.

"Flowing River Style: Red Water Blade."

Gong ducked under Tang's attacks and slashed at his unprotected stomach.

"Impossible..." Tang muttered as the blade was coming towards his waist.

"It was all a lie Little Tang."

Everything slowed down for Tang as he saw his Fourth Senior's sword coming for him. How could he fail? Even with the blessing of Lord Tyanir? Is it really his fate to be so weak and powerless? Even with all this power, he couldn't rise above his Fourth Senior? He couldn't even force him to take their duel seriously. Is this the end of Tang Wuying? Dying as a weakling braggart? Dying without any achievements nor pride?

No. No, no, no, no! He will not accept this! He will not accept such an end! Dying in such a shameful embarrassing way is unacceptable! He can't die this young! He can't die without fulfilling a single dream of his! He cannot die without taking Xiao Hong as his wife!

Tang's qi surged with the fury of 10,000 suns. The yellow markings on his skin glowed brightly. A visible golden aura wrapped around his body and weapon. Tang Wuying bent his torso with enough speed to dodge the blade of Gong Jun. Once he landed, he rushed towards Gong with his weapon and uppercutted him in the air with the edge. Gong couldn't react to his movement but Tang could already feel the strain of whatever is happening to him. His body is slowly getting heavier, his qi is being drained rapidly, and his vision is getting blurry. He has to finish this while he can.

Tang jumped at the airborne Gong and whacked him multiple times with his Tiger Boomerang. Drove his weapon into his side, smashed it against his torso, knocked it into his jaw. Gong was helpless against the assault, Tang was simply too fast, even for him currently. Tang smashed Gong down towards the ground and before he could crash into the ring, appeared under him with his boomerang ready.

"Dragon's Cyclone!"

Tang threw his boomerang towards the falling Gong. The boomerang altered the air around it and sucked Gong into its self-created mini tornado, attacking him multiple times with the boomerang. Tang dropped to his knees as he saw his Fourth Senior crash down in the ring. His boomerang swung back towards him as he was drained of most of his strength. He used the remaining amount to catch his boomerang and strap it to his back.

"Ha...Ha...Ha..." Tang struggled to laugh.

He was in monumental pain but he could ignore that for now. He's shown his Fourth Senior whose boss! He's shown him that he's better than him! He won! Lord Tyanir hasn't abandoned him in his time of need. Even though he doubted he could raise his body and stand, he has bested his Fourth Senior!

The crowd was stunned speechless. A majority of them couldn't even see how Tang Wuying just won. He was moving so fast that they couldn't even see a blur on the stage. Regardless of how he did it, the most important thing was that he did it! Gong Jun laid defeated while Tang Wuying was still standing! The odds for his victory was 20-80 and he still managed to pull through despite such odds!

"GONG JUN LOST!?" The crowd began cheering for Tang.

"HE DID IT! HE REALLY DID IT!"

"Wasn't he about to lose earlier? How did he possibly escape from Gong Jun's trap?"

"I guess we have another dark horse to look out for in the upcoming tournament."

"Maybe you do. Little Qi Consolidator. I don't have to look out for anything but his senior brothers."

Elder Mo reentered the ring and checked on Gong Jun. His forehead scrunched up but he soon fed him a recovery pill before announcing Tang Wuying as the winner.

* * *

***DING***

**[Mission Completed!]**

**[Rewards: Group Tab is now unlocked, Martial technique: Snake Fist, 3 rare tickets]**

A very pleased smile formed on Jing's face. It seems her worries about this duel was pointless. Tang Wuying didn't let her down. If he somehow had lost with one of her weapons, she would've killed him herself tonight, if Gong hadn't. The look on her followers' faces were of enjoyment. It seemed like they had a good time watching the fight.

"I'm going to call for you all tomorrow. Free up your plans." Jing told the three before leaving with the rest of the crowd.

Bing, Ying, and Hu Tao remained seated, wondering what Jing could possibly have planned for them tomorrow.

"What do you guys think she wants?" Ying asked.

"Probably another task for us. Hopefully this one doesn't involve any killing..."

"She sends you guys on errands!? What the hell!? I've been bored out of my mind and she's been giving you two fights?"

"It's not like she wants us to go out killing or fighting anyone. It just sort of kinda happens..." Bing told him.

"If she sends you two to do something, you can bet your ass I'm coming along. The only thing I got to look forward to these days is the ranking matches in the Inner Court." He grinned.

"Be my guest." Bing responded.

"Oh yeah you did reach the Qi Consolidation realm. How large is your qi pool?" Ying asked.

"Large enough. I've been saving spirit stones for a while to break through. I didn't wanna break through until I could beat Manchu but the pussy bastard has been avoiding me.

"Are you talking about the #1 ranked disciple in the Outer Court Manchu!?" Ying asked with stars in her eyes.

"Yeah that little coward is hiding some secret technique and doesn't want anyone to see it. He knows if he gets in a fight with me, he'll be forced to reveal it."

"Psh. Like you're any match for Manchu. He's what every disciple in the Outer Court inspires to be! Powerful, Gentle, and Handsome." Ying listed.

"That little wuss ain't none of those things. We've already fought 4 times already but each time it was stopped before it could get really good."

"I bet you loss all 4 times didn't you?" Ying asked.

"You know for a princess you sure do got the mouth on ya. What are you one of those fucking idiots that want Manchu's dick? I can give you something better you know." He gestured by grabbing his crotch.

"Disgusting!" Ying punched towards his face with all her power.

Hu Tao only grinned as he casually caught her fist. Bing sighed. He could see where this was headed already.

"If you wanna fight princess meet me in the ring and I'll show you a good time." Hu Tao's erection was visible through his robes.

"Shitty pervert!" Ying grabbed her sword and with a circular swing, aimed to slice Hu Tao in half.

Bing ducked low so that he doesn't get bisected by the blade and could only see Ying's body flying towards the ring. Hu Tao thumped her forehead with enough force to send her away. He jumped towards the ring and only grinned at the feisty redhead. She recovered before she could crash into the ring and stared at Hu Tao with anger.

"Show me what you got princess." Hu Tao taunted as his chains began moving.

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Ying yelled as she leapt towards the cocky pervert with her monstrous sword.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope it was an excited fight that was worth the wait! Tang Wuying managed to pull the win from under Gong Jun thanks to a cheaty return boi. But before any of you get the wrong idea, Gong Jun would still pull a hefty 80 wins to 20 loses lead over Tang if they fought 100 times. He got blitz before he could try seriously, pretty unfortunate but i suppose he's lucky they're on the same side.

Next chappy we'll have a little scuffle between Hu Tao and Ying before moving on to the next day and getting into some more hijinks after that.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	31. Preparations and a Trap!

Ying's freakishly large sword split the air apart as it came crashing down towards Hu Tao. Hu Tao stood with the same confidence that's always showing in his mannerisms. He yawned in the face of Ying's attack. Within the next second, an ear-piercing sound pierced the air. Bing was forced to cover his ears from the sound but didn't dare stop watching the battle between the two. His future with this group will definitely include many more fights of this nature and with his luck even worse. If he doesn't take the necessary steps to get as much experience as he can, he will die in no time.

With the freaks his Empress keeps recruiting, something tells him that things are only going to get crazier as time goes on. He'd have to be a naïve fool to believe otherwise. He's already dreading tomorrow with the meet up with the other members. If they are anything like those two, he's going to have to up his training more than he already has just to keep up with this insane group. Just watching the way Ying swings that enormous sword with such a petite and frail-looking body makes him shiver in terror. It's just unnatural.

Hu Tao was something to be frightful of as well. He was able to dodge the wind-slicing swings of Ying's blade with a crazed smile on his face. If just one of those slashes even managed to touch him, he won't be coming out of this fight as a whole. Bing knew if he was up against Ying when she's out for blood, he would have to do everything he could to come out in one piece. Holding back against her just makes her want to try even harder to make you show everything you have. She drags you into her pace, a pace that seemed lower than yours to begin with but somehow near the end of the battle, you find yourself on equal terms or below hers.

It's a mystery how she does it but Bing just chalked it up to her being a freak. It's how he usually classifies those that defy common sense. The fact that she can swing that big thing around with a grin on her face as well and not a single drop of sweat to be found despite that this battle has been going on for around 10 minutes only proves his point. They are complete monsters and they are only becoming even worse as they get stronger.

'I will do whatever I can to avoid such a fate. I won't be like these freaks, no matter what.' Bing vows.

The battle, if you could call it that, ended within half an hour. Neither sides had any injuries but only one was out of breath.

"You little mouse bastard..." Ying insulted.

"You got more than enough power under your belt princess but you're still not an opponent for me with that speed. I could spank your ass ten times before you could even graze me."

"Why don't you... put your mouth where your money is... Coward." Ying pointed her blade's tip at him.

Hu Tao only shook his head and sighed.

"You're not my type princess. Big tits and no ass ain't it for me. I'm an ass man all the way. Gotta have the right shape, firmness, and pop!"

"Kill yourself degenerate..."

"I'll see you tomorrow Princess, Shield Boy. That was a nice stretch. Peace!" Hu Tao hopped off the dueling ring and started walking away.

"Get back here!" Ying shouted. "Don't you dare humiliate me like this! Fight me to the end!"

"Maybe when you get stronger. You're too weak to be of any interest to me right now. I'll be looking forward to the future though your highness." He sarcastically bowed before leaving out of their sights.

Ying smashed her fist against the stage, nearly cracking in half in her anger. Bing arrived on stage and sat next to Ying. He chose not to say anything. He didn't need to say anything. Getting stronger was a fact of life for any cultivator. Some of those strengths may differ from one another but regardless, it's a never-ending climb upward for those that choose the path of cultivation. Ying is just lucky that it is an ally that is pushing her for strength. An enemy would kill her before she could gain that determination and future strength. Bing knew he would kill any future threats to his safety immediately in the bud. Life just isn't that forgiving for those that aren't cautious.

* * *

"Welcome everyone. For now, this is my entire faction. These are the people you will be working with in the future for any tasks I need you to accomplish or just in general. You are to never kill each other or cripple another in any way. I don't care if you fight but if I send you on a task together and mess it up by fighting during it, I'll show you a fate worse than death. Don't ever get in contact with me unless I give explicit permission or it's an emergency regarding our faction or me. Don't even act like I exist if you see me in public. If you are ever captured and questioned about my origins or the leader of this group, do not reveal a single thing about me. Even if you are killed afterwards, I will still find a way to make you suffer for your betrayal. Now any questions?" She finished with a frightening smile.

"How are we supposed to get in contact with you if we aren't to visit you or act like you exist?" Lei Zhi asked.

"I'm glad you asked. Here take these talismans." Jing placed four talismans in front of them.

They picked it up and looked at it. It looked no different from any blank talisman. Jing showed a small smile before taking out a similar slip. She channeled her qi into it and soon all four of their talismans lit up with words and a slight vibration. The words looked as if they were written with qi but that's impossible. Qi doesn't work in a way where you can draw in the air or on materials with it.

'_Channel your qi through this talisman slip and think of the person you want to send a message to and the message you want to send them. It will only work with those who I gave a slip to. Keep these on you at all times.' _It read.

"Anything else?" Jing asked.

"Yeah, when do I get to fight someone? I heard that the princess and shield boy has been getting in fights on every little errand you send them on while I haven't had anything like that! What's with the favoritism huh?" Hu Tao asked annoyed.

"Ah you just reminded me about that. It seems Ying and Bing got a bounty for their heads recently. Mind sharing with the rest of us how you got this bounty?" Jing asked cheekily.

"There's a bounty on my head?!" Bing exclaimed.

"So that's why there's been so many annoying pests coming for me." Ying said with her hand resting on her face.

"Why isn't there a bounty on my head?!" Hu Tao whined.

"Your reputation is quite fearsome within the sect Tao. You also have the might to deter any would be foes no matter the spirit stones offered." Lei Zhi informed.

"I'm too strong for my own good! What a curse it is to be such a god-like young man. If only I could be less handsome, less godly, and less of a genius, maybe I could get a bounty of my own."

"Shut up you ass. If you want people after you, why don't you just place a bounty on yourself? Arrogant prick." Ying huffed.

"Princess!" Hu Tao shouted. "You're a genius!"

"You're not doing that." Jing said.

"What!? How unfair!"

"I'll give you a fight soon. Just be patient till I give the order."

"Will they be strong?" He questioned dubiously.

"If you're not careful, you'll die. Is that strong enough for you?"

"Perfect!"

"What about us Jing? Do we have tasks to do?" Ying asked.

"For now, no. Just Hu Tao. But besides that, all of you start training for the Treasured Plains that's opening up in a few months. I will not be giving you anymore techniques and spirit stones. If you want to get stronger, get strong enough to take what you want. I'm not your mother. During the Treasured Plain's event, I'm going to give you all very simple instructions before it begins and trust you all will accomplish it to my liking."

"I'll tell you when the time comes but you're all free to leave now and socialize to your liking. This will be the last time we're meeting at my home by the way. Don't ever come back without my approval."

"Hey before we go Jing, I wanna know why you are gathering followers in the first place." Ying asked.

"I dislike the way things are run in the sect. Disciples are bullied with no one caring in the slightest. The strong are free to do what they wish with no repercussions. Elders are arrogant blowhards with little substance and use. Connections are too valued within the sect instead of loyalty and skill. I wish to change it all into something much better. Into a paradise for those who wish to grasp immortality with their own hands."

The looks on her followers were in contemplation about her words. She guessed she has never really spoke about her ambitions to anyone besides Lei Zhi and Li Li. But it's good that she got it stated in front of them now. Can't be leading them completely blind after all.

"Make sure to frequently share any new information with the communication tags. Information is power, don't forget that."

"I think we're all good Jing. It's time we end this little meet up so that I can get on with my task." Hu Tao stated.

"I think so as well. You have a week to prepare for your task Hu Tao. If you aren't careful, you'll die."

"Hell yes!"

Ying, Bing, Hu Tao, and Lei Zhi soon left Jing's home for the possible last time and parted ways.

* * *

Ying figured that this reunion would happen eventually. If anything, she's just surprised that she wasn't the one to initiate it. The timing of it couldn't be any better though. Just as she was out on a hunting task for the sect and after successfully killing the spirit beast without slicing it apart, she just so happened to be surrounded by Xiaohui, her bitches, and some weaklings.

"Took you long enough to find me Xiaohui. I've been looking all over for you but you've been avoiding me lately. I wonder why?" Ying smirked.

"Hmph. Of course, I would avoid a mutt like you. Your stench is bad enough to ward off anyone." Xiaohui mocked, causing laughter to sound out from her group.

"That's a funny one. It seems you didn't have any problems with my smell before. Or is it because I've gotten stronger that it took you so long to come get me? It's why you set this little trap for me and brought along more than just your little group.

"You're scared of me, aren't you? I think it's funny how I used to think of you as one of my closest friends and all it took was a little power to show your true self."

Xiaohui's body started shaking. She balled her fists before screaming.

"No one's scared of a loser like you! I was never your friend Ying, I was only pretending to be close to you because of your family. Without that, you were nothing and that's why I stopped acting like your friend!"

"I see, so you were always this terrible of a person then? Good, I don't need to hear anymore. You're going to die here anyway."

"Kill her and shut her mouth up for good! I'll put in a good word to Cheng Chi for you all when she's dead."

"That's all I need to hear. You don't mind if we have some fun before we kill her do you?" One of the 5th stage Qi Gatherers asked.

"Do whatever you want just make sure she dies!" Xiaohui commanded.

Ying couldn't even laugh anymore. It was all just so funny but she couldn't muster even a single "Ha." Maybe she's gone crazy with joy and that's the explanation. It doesn't matter anymore though. Even if she was surrounded by ten times as many enemies, she would still pay back those that did her wrong. A Yue never forgives its enemies and she wasn't going to go back on her family's principles anytime soon.

A majority of the cultivators gathered for her were either the same cultivation rank as her or one step above it. Ying thought that Xiaohui could have done better if she tried, considering who her boyfriend is but maybe she was looking down on her and didn't think it was necessary. She'll make sure to make her regret making that choice. She crushed her fist and lifted her blade from the ground.

With a single wave of her sword, she already caused those charging her from the front to halt. The ones behind her didn't get the message and with a twist of her torso, smashed her sword's blunt side into them. Their cries of surprise and pain only served to frighten her attackers more. She was sure she managed to shatter their rib cages with that hit.

"What are you waiting for! Kill her already!" Xiaohui screamed.

They didn't mindlessly listen to her however. They approached her with far more caution than she's used to. Well if they won't come to her, she doesn't mind going to them! Ying leaped towards those in front of her and frightened them so badly they jumped away as soon as she advanced.

"Weren't you going to kill me?! Come on I'm right here!" Ying taunted.

If this came down to a game of cat and mouse, she would definitely lose. Her speed is impressive but it's only good for short bursts. The longer the battle goes on, the more she would lose in the long run. She would have to figure something out or they'll tire her out like a wild animal. She looked towards Xiaohui who had an impatient look on her face.

'This'll work.' She smiled.

Ying gathered qi within her legs and ran towards Xiaohui with her blade raised overhead. The huge smile on Ying's face couldn't be helped when watching that bitch's eyes pop like that. She never expected her to go directly after her, did she? Using her head might not be something she does often but when in the heat of battle, any idea is a good one. Well as long as it works anyway.

Shing! Ying's blade clashed against Xiaohui's defensive magic treasure. It formed a qi shield that could stand against her strength. The pale look on the bitch's face only made Ying's grin look even more terrifying. She used all her strength against the spirit tool but damn was it strong. It had to be earth-rank at the very least to be able to withstand against her sword.

Ying ignited her qi within herself. Her body blazed in a crimson flame, starting with her hair all the way down to her legs. It wasn't just her body that was taken by the flames though, her sword also transformed along with her! The searing heat was bearing down on Xiaohui and her shield. It was cracking! Her head would soon be separated from her body in no time!

Well, that's how she thought it would turn out. She managed to shatter the necklace but before she could perform the finishing blow, she was attacked and knocked away. The force of that attack was strong enough to nearly pierce right through her stomach. If she didn't use her flames to defend herself, she wouldn't have got off lightly.

"Who the hell?"

"Baby?!" Xiaohui exclaimed while heavily sweating.

"Is that The Cheng Chi!?"

"The #5 ranked Outer Disciple?!"

"We're saved!"

Cheng Chi has shown up. This wasn't looking so good anymore. Ying knew her own strength well. It wasn't enough to match a genius like this without going all out and even then, she doubted she could pull the win from him. He has to have some skills or treasures that he hasn't shown in any of his ranking matches while she only has her body and martial arts to rely on. This is going to be one of the hardest fights in her life. Surprisingly enough though, a smile still formed itself on her face. This'll be the first time she can truly go all out in a while.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next Chap we got Ying vs Cheng Chi and maybe something more. I'm reaching the point in the story where i can really head anywhere i want and add nearly any situation i want. The amount of choices and options I have are a little overwhelming and sometimes its hard to figure out what i should do.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	32. Ying's Desperate Fight!

"If you walk away now, I won't kill you for trying to murder my girlfriend." Cheng Chi warned.

"Pfft! Hahahaha!" Ying couldn't help but bursting out in laughter at the words of Cheng.

His eyebrows furrowed at the laughter. Ying could tell he didn't know why she was laughing. For such a handsome guy, he sure is stupid. No wonder he's with someone like Xiaohui.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"It's just funny how you think you can save Xiaohui from dying today."

"I won't allow you to hurt her now that I am here. Like I said before, if you walk away now you can still live a peaceful life."

Yeah, he's pretty goddamn stupid. There's no way that Xiaohui would allow her to live peacefully after this. Next time she'll try and get some stronger guys to take her out with. Especially since she's seen how strong she's gotten since last time. If she doesn't take Xiaohui out here, her future will be filled with constant troubles by her. Plus, she hasn't even paid her back for the months of bullying thanks to her.

"Eat shit and die asshole!" Ying gave him the middle finger as she rushed towards him.

He pulled his sword from his back and with a simple horizontal swing, attempted to deflect her blade. Attempted, was the key word here. Her sword wasn't some simple large blade made out of regular steel. It was otherworldly in nature. Since the day she's got it, she hasn't seen a single crack appear on it no matter how hard she swung it into the ground. Its sharpness has also never dulled since they found each other.

Ying realized that he was still looking down on her. It made sense, he was 3 small stages ahead of her after all. Unfortunately for him, she decided to take advantage of him while he was still looking down on her. Ying's great sword easily overpowered Cheng's steel sword. Even with his qi strength being at the 9th stage, it couldn't hold against Ying's abnormal blade for long. It was even able to cut through qi itself! Given enough time, nothing could hold against her sword.

Ying sliced off Cheng's right arm, showering the ground in his blood. The scream produced by the ranked #5 outer disciple, caused Xiaohui and her lackies blood to run cold with fear. Ying's laughter at all his talk from earlier only heightened her mood as she tried to impale the genius straight through his chest with the giant sword.

"You piece of trash!" Cheng screamed.

His qi exploded in a shockwave, knocking Ying far away as he took care of his bleeding injury. Ying stabbed her weapon into the ground to recover. Luckily, she managed to cut his arm off in a way that made it fly off into the woods. Now if she can just survive till he...

He suddenly appeared right in front of her and punched her in the face.

'Oh yeah he's pissed. He's definitely not holding anything back against me anymore.' Ying thought as she crashed into a tree.

The force of his punch made Ying's insides jumble around. The worst part of that punch was that he wasn't satisfied after that one hit. After she crashed into the tree, he dashed after her and unloaded all his frustration and rage upon her by beating her with his one good arm till her nose was broken and face was bloody.

Taking a beating without trying to fight back wasn't her thing though. As he was wailing on her in his anger, Ying used her legs and kicked wherever she could. Kicking him in the stomach caused him to spit out saliva, kicking him in the thigh made his legs buckle, and kicking him in the nuts made his assault completely stop as he spat blood from his mouth onto her.

Ying pulled both of her legs back and kicked Cheng away. Seeing the pain he was going through was enough to make her temporarily forget about the pain her face was in. She had to kill him now before he could recover! Ying lifted her sword and was about to leap into the air over towards Cheng Chi but before she could jump, she was stabbed in the back.

"Guh! You spineless bastards...!" Ying cried out as she faced the one who stabbed her.

His hands were shaking as he held onto the steel going through her side. Ying pulled her hand back and back handed the weasel, killing him instantly. She slowly and painfully pulled out the sword in her back. With the weasel's head facing 90 degrees in the wrong direction, anyone else thinking of sneak attacking her were quickly dissuaded by that dead body. Or at least she thought they would be, Xiaohui and her groupies charged while Cheng was downing recovery pills.

" I'll take you all on then! A Yue never gives up!" Ying screamed as her body exploded in a crimson inferno.

The eruption of fire knocked anyone who attempted to get close to be blasted away with burns. Ying vanished with fire trailing behind her figure as she became death itself. Her sword slashed through her enemies like tofu, her fist incinerated them into dust, and her kicks shattered their bones into nothingness. Her strength was undying and her flames were everlasting. No matter how many times she was sliced, attacked, or injured, her fighting strength never diminished.

"That's enough! This is the end for you trash!" Cheng shouted as she was inches away from beheading Xiaohui.

He appeared in front of her with his body glowing in a blue aura. He palmed towards her sword and they clashed. A blue beam of qi fired from his palm. Ying slashed forward with everything she had regardless of what he was planning. Handling everything head-on was what she's always done. Running away instead of destroying everything ahead of her wasn't who she was. Whatever Cheng is planning to do wasn't even a thought in her mind. All she was thinking was of slashing through what was blocking her way. Going forward regardless of opposition could be the words that defined her.

"Impossible...! Just what kind of spirit weapon is that!?" Cheng cried in fear.

Her sword was splitting apart his martial arts technique! A martial technique that has even helped him overcome a cultivator at the Qi Consolidation stage. She was actually beating it back with nothing more than just a sword and willpower! Ying's blade was inching closer and closer towards splitting Cheng and Xiaohui in half but the sneaky bitch pulled out a talisman and activated it!

Cheng and Xiaohui disappeared from in front of her and her blade split the earth apart. She looked around and found them a few trees away with Cheng wishing that he could tear her apart with just his eyes. He vanished and nearly palmed her in the stomach. Ying barely blocked with the body of her sword as she was lifted off the ground and into the air. He was running on fumes now if she could follow his movements and react to them.

As she was knocked into the air, Cheng kept on her. Knocking her across the Immortal Forest without holding anything back, Ying could barely hold onto her sword. She knew that dropping it would only lead to her death. She tightened her grip on her hilt as much as she could while enduring the volley of palms. After crashing through one of the infinite trees within the Immortal Forest, Cheng stood above her on top of a branch in a tree.

His eye fixed in a perpetual state of anger while looking down on her. She grinned even though her body felt like tapping out at this point.

"All this and you could barely even take out a little 5th stage Qi Gatherer. Ha..." She taunted with blood dribbling down her lips.

"Those were your final words trash. You can only blame yourself for not walking away when you had the chance."

His hand glowed in a blue qi. The color around it began to darken and condense around his palm. Ying could only watch and glare at his figure. Her body refused to move any further. She couldn't even twitch her pinkie. The only thing she could do was grip her sword across her body and stare death in the face. Cheng Chi fired a wave of qi down towards her with his remaining hand, confident that she couldn't escape death.

Blue filled Ying's vision and she grit her teeth at her helplessness. No matter how much willpower and tenacity she brought forth, it couldn't override her body's injuries. No matter how much she fought inwardly to twitch even a single finger, her body failed her. But until that attack killed her, Ying would not give up the slightest chance of hope. Only when she's placed into the reincarnation cycle, will be when her determination dies out.

Ying's sword sent her feelings of hope. Ying agreed with it and reassured her sword that she wasn't losing hope in the slightest. She was just pissed that she was so weak and useless right now. Her sword sent her feelings that told her that it was going to be okay. She wouldn't die just yet! Ying wondered how in the world was it going to save them from a situation like this but she fully gave it the support it needed. If it has a plan to save them, she was going to support it with all she had. She didn't really have anything else she could do right now.

The fleshy eyeball with slit pupils opened itself sideways and behind the eyes laid human teeth that widened and swallowed the blue beam attack whole. The qi attack landed in such a predictable path that it was begging to be ate by the sword. He fired it straight towards Ying's heart where the eye was protecting. Ying would love to say that she planned for such a thing to have happened but she would just be a liar if she did that. It was the sword that placed itself in that way!

The sword took in the qi of Cheng and started pumping energy within her body. Her body started visibly pulsing and thumping. Her fatal injuries started repairing themselves from the influx of energy taken from Cheng. Her body returned control back to her and she stood up from the ground. Cheng was in disbelief at the scene. It was as if she literally came back from the dead right in front of him. She was sure that she just advanced to the 6th stage because of what her sword did.

"You're a freak... How could someone like you get your hands on a spirit weapon that could bring one back from the brink of death? Something like that should be held by someone like me!"

"Strange choice for your final words, don't you think?" She smiled, fully recovered and feeling even stronger than before.

"If you kill me, the sect won't let you off lightly. I'm the 5th ranked disciple in the Outer Court. My death won't be ignored."

Ying only shrugged her shoulders before disappearing and reappearing elsewhere. The sound of Cheng's bisected body falling to the ground reached her ears.

"You talk too much." Ying murmured before dashing off to repay some debts.

Ying appeared at the fighting site where it all began to find everyone who she hasn't killed waiting around healing themselves. They shivered and screamed like crazy once she revealed herself.

"How...? How did you defeat Cheng?! That's impossib-" Ying decapitated Xiaohui with a blood fountain spraying into the air afterwards.

"I told you, you were going to die here. Along with everyone else who tried to play a part in my death." Ying looked towards the remaining survivors.

"We were ordered by Xiaohui to attack you!"

"She said if we didn't follow her orders, she'd kill us!"

"Cheng Chi threatened us to listen to that crazy bitch!"

Ying chuckled softly before killing them all. Each of them died with a single swing of her blade and painted the ground into a blood pond. She doubted she got everyone while she was off with Cheng Chi, but it doesn't matter. If someone tries to cause trouble with her in the future, she'll just deal with it the way she has always done. With an overwhelming assault and relentless spirit.

But this experience did cause her to understand one thing though. She needs to increase her current training and cultivation. She's pretty lucky that her current surroundings are filled with bodies that have things for her to take! Especially Cheng's body back there, she saw quite the shiny ring on his finger that she could use.

* * *

"Is this how I do it Teacher?" Jing asked as she threw the talismans towards the ground.

He looked over her placements and smiled.

"You are doing well. With a little more practice, you'll be able to increase your speed even further!"

"I still don't understand if I should focus on getting my trapping formation speed up or my mastery of movement arrays. If I get better at forming trapping arrays, it would help me deal with opponents faster but if I get better at movement arrays, I would have all the time I need to set up trapping arrays and be able to protect myself by avoiding the enemy."

"That's a very good question Jing but it is one that you can only find out for yourself. There is no progress in arrays without trying things out for yourself."

'Useless mongrel.' Jing thought.

"Thank you, Teacher! I'll make sure to test them both and find out which one is better for me." Jing responded gratefully.

"Besides talisman making and going over your spell placements, we are done for today. You are dismissed." He smiled.

"Yes, Teacher!" Jing bowed her head before heading down the mountain.

The things she's learning from Lang is quite nice. She's managed to memorize the spellbook when he had to take a trip down the mountain. But even with the knowledge, someone actually experienced in the field is still useful. That's one of the reasons why she hasn't disappeared and left his tutelage yet. The other was because it wouldn't fit her character she's shown so far.

With SCP-914, she's already refined a couple things for her career in arrays. Replicating blank talisman slips, a spirit brush that doesn't run out of spirit ink on its tip, and an infinite supplying jar of spirit ink. She embarrassedly chuckled thinking about that one. She didn't need to refine the jar because the brush never ran out of ink so, it was kind of pointless making it.

Li Li enjoys making talismans though. It's like playing with toys for him but instead of dolls and the like, its cultivator's worst nightmares. He has the most fun creating and activating Harming spells. Jing can understand why he would enjoy them the most. They are the most flashy and colorful spells. Trapping, Movement, and Supportive aren't as showy in comparison to Harming spells. Some Trapping spells can compete with Harming but just a small portion.

Playing with talismans is quite fun even if she doesn't need to rely on them at all. She's fully capable of fighting without them. She just thought it would be more interesting to learn this rather than going the combat route with the personality she's chosen to show. But enough of all that. Jing has to find out just what are the factions that are leading the Outer Court so, that she can get a start on her current mission of taking over the Outer Court.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ying had quite the lucky break there with her sword! Even though she managed to disarm Cheng Chi he was still strong enough to nearly send her through death's door. If it wasn't thanks to her sword, she would've died this chapter!

I wonder how this experience will affect Ying going forward!

Jing is also looking forward for her mission in taking over the Outer Court! Just what kinds of groups and factions are standing in her way of accomplishing the system's mission?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	33. Training with the Team!

"Alright come at me like you mean it!" Ying shouted as she pointed her blade at Bing.

"I don't think I could afford to go easy on you even if I wanted to." He said with his shield raised.

"Haha kick her ass Tubby! I'm rooting for you!" Hu Tao cheered while lying in the grass.

"Don't go too far in your sparring. We only have a few recovery pills between us all." Lei Zhi informed.

"Shut it old man. I want to see some blood! Tear her shirt off so we can see some titties!" Hu Tao shouted.

"I'll crush your balls Hu Tao!" Ying shouted back. He only laughed in response.

His fellow teammates were all outside his home. They decided together that they should listen to Jing's advice and train for the upcoming Treasured Plains. Training together would be better than training alone, as suggested by Jing. Lei Zhi agreed with that type of thinking. It is harder to find faults with one's technique alone. This could also strengthen their bonds as teammates at the same time.

Ying was the most fired up about these training sessions. After her near-death experience, it seems she realized that she wasn't training hard enough lately after getting her sword. She got complacent and couldn't accept herself being the cause of her weakness. Lei Zhi could understand, she was young. Youth is the time to be complacent, lazy, unmotivated.

He has watched too many fall from that in his time at the sect. He has trained every single day after receiving Jing's gifts. Finding ways of using his fishing rod in combat, practicing diligently with his martial arts, understanding his fishing rod's abilities, and working on improving his cultivation. Lei Zhi has finally been given the chance to improve himself. No longer will he be suppressed and taken advantage of by misguided youth. No longer will he allow his meagre talent to hold him back. He will become someone great and respectable!

The two tested their skills against each other. Ying started off the battle strong with fearsome aggressive attacks. Bing looked as if he expected this kind of start and was already in position to receive her attacks. He blocked every slash and swipe of her blade with his shield. Ying's strength was greater but Bing used that strength to his advantage. Every time he was attacked, he let the attack blow him away rather than trying to stand against it and defend.

Each time he was sent flying, he easily recovered in time to receive the next blow with his shield. It looked like he was a ball being sent flying all over the place in the eyes of Lei Zhi. You'd think that being knocked around like that, he'd look tired or injured or panicked in some way but actually Ying was the one who was working up a sweat.

"You haven't thrown a single punch yet! You're not looking down on me because I'm a girl, are you?" She glared.

"I believe in equal rights Ying. I would not even think about going easy on a woman. It would go against my principles." Bing responded.

"Then hit me already!" Ying ignited herself with her cultivation technique.

"The point of a shield isn't to hit someone but to defend." Bing said as he activated his own cultivation techniques.

The dirt beneath him sunk and all the weight in his stomach formed itself into bulging muscle all over his body.

"But I guess I can make an exception this time." He crouched with his shield in front of him. "Swift Devil!"

He took off towards Ying with exceptional speed. Ying smiled at seeing this. She must be glad he's finally attacking like she wanted. A powerful release of flames shot out from Ying's figure, blasting her towards Bing with her sword held out in front of her, ready to pierce through anything in front of her. The resulting clash between shield and sword had even Hu Tao looking excited. Which will be stronger? That which was made to protect or that which was made to kill?

"We'll finally see whose weapon is stronger!" Ying yelled as Bing just gritted his teeth in anticipation.

The two met with their weapons and a piercing sound rang out, metal on metal. At first, it looked as if Bing and Ying were equal in strength but as seconds went by, Ying regained the lead in strength. She was slowly pushing him backwards with his feet digging into the earth.

"Art of Deflection." Bing muttered as he shifted his shield.

Ying's blade started shifting to the left instead of the middle of Bing's shield. She tried to fix it and stab right through Bing's shield but this only allowed him to alter the blade's path even more. He deflected her blade into stabbing the ground and followed up by punching towards her with his shield. Ying wouldn't have enough time to dodge at that distance and it looked like she didn't plan on dodging either. She straightforwardly headbutted Bing's shield head on and momentarily stood her ground, blood dripped from her forehead

Lei Zhi could only imagine the terrible strength of her skull if she could withstand a blow like that and still continue to fight. He shared Bing's shocked expression as he saw the scene. Ying used this chance to grab her sword off the ground and swing it at Bing's side. Bing blocked with his shield and was sent flying back towards his original starting spot.

"Alright! Enough! Seeing you two fuckers getting all hot and sweaty is making me want to fight. Sitting here cultivating while waiting for Jing to call for me is boring as hell." Hu Tao exclaimed.

Lei Zhi saw Bing look towards Ying.

"Shut it jackass! No one said you had to be here, you know?" Ying responded, throwing a rock at his lying figure.

"Oi! What the hell is with this uncooperative behavior princess? Don't you know we're all a team here? Be nicer before I fuck you up for the good of the group." He caught the rock with his foot.

"I'd like to see you try asshole." She balled her fist.

"You wouldn't even serve as a warmup at your current strength. Maybe if you teamed up with Fatty you could make me sweat but I don't like teases. Even if I played with you two at the same time, I would be left wanting more. How would that be fair to me if you two got the fight of your lives and I get stuck not being satisfied?"

"Grr... Just wait you piece of shit. Once I reach the Qi Consolidation stage, I'm gonna pound your face in." Ying promised.

"Keep dreaming princess. Unless you get some sky-ranked martial arts like the fatty, don't even think about coming at me with those sloppy skills."

"You have sky-ranked martial arts?!" Ying asked.

"Yes?" Bing responded surprised.

"How did you get sky-ranked martial arts before me!? What kind of connections do you have Bing?! Have you been holding out on me!?" She started shaking him by the collar.

"I found it with Jing. We fell into some sort of ruin and found it. She let me have it because she had no use for them." He explained quickly.

"WHAT!?" Hu Tao and Ying yelled together.

"Who doesn't have a use for sky-ranked martial arts!?" Ying questioned.

"That bitch has definitely got deep pockets if a sky-ranked martial art ain't shit to her." Hu Tao stated.

"What a fortuitous encounter Bing. Congratulations." Lei Zhi smiled.

"Even I only have 1 sky-ranked martial art but this piggy bastard has 3? The heavens are truly bullshit." Hu Tao complained.

"It isn't all that great... It takes longer for me to advance in my cultivation because of them."

"Are you retarded idiot? Just go take whatever the fuck you need. If you need stones go rob some people out of theirs." Hu Tao told him.

"I'd rather not make enemies with people if I can avoid it. I'm sure I can go on enough tasks."

"Tasks won't be enough. Even if you choose the dangerous ones. The best way of gaining resources is increasing your ranking."

"Wait! Why wouldn't tasks be enough?" Ying asked suddenly.

"Anything could happen during one of those. Some of them are even traps for certain cultivators. The ranking matches are safer and more reliable."

"That's pretty kind of you Tao to share this information with us. Even I didn't know there was a risk in taking tasks besides the beasts." Lei Zhi said.

"All of you owe me one favor now."

"You think that shitty advice is good enough for a favor!?"

"Yep. Now let's go get some real training done. You three weaklings are going to be fighting in ranking matches until it's time for the Treasured Plains to open. It's how I got as strong as I am today. If you don't include my godly talent." He kissed his biceps.

"If this doesn't work, I swear I'm gonna kill you." Ying promised.

Hu Tao took the group to the ranking rings. It was still light out so the rings were active. There was a board that listed the top 100 rankers, then a second board that listed the top 1,000 rankers, and a final board that listed the top 5,000 rankers. Lei Zhi was ranked 4,995. Ying was ranked 999. Bing had no rank and Hu Tao is placed in the Inner Court's ranking board.

"Go look for any weaklings you can fight and do this every day until it's time for the Treasured Plains to open."

"You do know we will need to offer contribution points or something else of value to challenge someone right?"

"You do. These two won't have to do that until they get on the second board."

"I need all the points I can get! Why would I offer them to somebody else!?" Ying asked.

"Don't tell me the princess is scared of a little fighting?"

"I'm not scared of anything!"

"If you're not scared then just do it."

"We won't actually lose contribution points if we win Ying. The rules say when you offer up contribution points to a ranking match, your opponent must have an equal or greater amount to defend their spot. Upon winning, the winner will take the same amount of contribution points they have put up to challenge the opponent." Bing read off the board.

"Oh, and you're so confident about winning every match Bing?"

"Of course not. That's why I'll be careful and pick opponents who I can defeat."

"Are you out of your mind Fatty? What would be the point of training if you didn't struggle? You're going to face off against the people I picked for you now." Hu Tao declared.

"Me and my big fat mouth..." He muttered with his head hanging low.

"Old timer, you're up first. Choose someone on this list and go beat their brains in."

Lei Zhi chose one of the available names on the board. He could only choose to battle against someone whose cultivation rank was equal or one stage above his. He picked a person with the same cultivation stage as his and waited till the young man at the counter sent off a bird with a letter in its talon. Bing's opponent was forcefully chosen by Hu Tao. Ying chose her own opponent. Both Ying and Bing's opponents were one stage above them in cultivation.

Now they had to wait till their opponents came. Lei Zhi didn't do ranking matches often on the account of his terrible talent and weak martial skills. But that was in the past when he wasn't recruited by Jing. Now, he could fully hone his newly gained techniques without fear. His old bones were shaking a bit in excitement. He felt a little bit foolish getting excited over something like a fight but it's like he's got a whole new start at being a cultivator again. Can you blame him for being a little excited?

Lei Zhi's opponent took around 5 minutes before showing up. He looked like a normal looking youth inside the Golden Serpent Sect. He wore the sect's robes and had a sword on his waist. Lei Zhi made his way to their marked ring and met eye to eye with the young man. Lei Zhi smiled politely and the youth glared at him in response.

"Let's have a good battle." Lei Zhi told him.

"Shut up and get ready to die." He ran towards Lei Zhi with his sword.

Lei Zhi made sure to tell Xiurong to stay hidden in his clothes. He pulled out his fishing rod and swung it towards the young man.

"A freaking fishing rod? You really do have a death wish don't you old man?" He knocked the fishing hook into the air with his sword and ran towards Lei Zhi.

With a horizontal slash that was aiming to decapitate Lei Zhi, he leaned his head back and slipped past the young man.

"How the hell did you...?" He turned around to face Lei Zhi who got behind him and charged again.

Lei Zhi had his back turned on the youth. He could still see the young man without even having to look at him. The feisty young man was seconds away from stabbing him in the back but before he could put an end to him, A fishing hook stabbed into his clothes and whooshed him into the sky. Lei Zhi didn't plan to do what he did with Sying. He has learned from that experience and will not embarrass the fighty youth.

He slammed him into the ring and knocked him out cold. The disciple referee standing below the ring, called the match and informed Lei Zhi that his ranking will be fixed on the board soon. Lei Zhi nodded with a smile as he walked towards Bing's ring whose opponent just showed up.

It was a young lady. Long flowing hair, nicely shaped body, and a small frame. She walked up on the ring and angrily glared at Bing.

"Let's have a good fight..." Bing said to his opponent.

"I'm going to break your bones for wasting my time Fatty. I should be cultivating right now in preparation for the Plains. It's my only chance of gaining magical treasures and highly ranked martial arts."

"I'm sorry to hear that..."

"I'll show you sorry!" She squeaked as she leapt towards Bing with her palm stretched out.

Bing blocked her palm strike with his shield. Her attack didn't even cause him to budge. She scoffed before releasing a furious flurry of palm attacks.

"Blue Wind Flurry!"

Bing blocked each strike with ease. Even as she tried to attack him in places where his shield wasn't defending, his shield quickly followed after. Lei Zhi could see that she was tiring herself out trying to get past his defense. This wasn't looking good for her if she doesn't try a new strategy soon.

"Try and keep up with this then!" She was about to dash away with her qi focusing around her legs.

"Let's not instead..." Bing reached out with his hand just before she could activate her martial art.

He grabbed her shoulder with his thick palm. Lei Zhi could tell that she couldn't muster any strength under the power of that grip. He slowly increased his strength and she started screaming while lowering to her knees. Once her knees touched the ring, Bing let go of her shoulder.

"Do you surrender?" He asked her.

Her eyes were staring into the distance, not daring to make contact with Bing's. Her body was shaking like a leaf as she muttered something.

"The referee didn't hear you. Speak up please." He reached out with his hand towards her.

"I SURRENDER PLEASE!"

A gentle smile appeared on his face. He looked towards the referee. The referee nodded and called the match in Bing's favor. He left the stage without taking a single glance towards the young girl in the ring. Hu Tao didn't comment on the fight and the group moved over to Ying's ring. By the time the group made it over, Ying was already finished with her battle. Her opponent was crushed into the ring with their bones in unnatural positions.

"Piece of cake." Ying smiled.

"Well keep at it! I'm going to find some fights myself to pass the time. Jing is taking too long to call me."

"When do we stop exactly?" Bing asked.

"When its night out retard. Who wants to fight when you can't see shit?" Hu Tao responded.

They listened to Hu Tao's instructions as he was the strongest amongst them and had more experience in getting stronger than any of them.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you were wonder what Ying's sword looked like it kind of looks like this.

But big enough to dwarf over the average man, a demonic looking eyeball at the base of the blade, a standard hilt and guard, and fucking beeg!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	34. An Uneventful Day

**[Host has received SCP-154]**

**[Host has received a broken sword!]**

**[Host has received a cloud seed!]**

Jing was not pleased with the results of the rare tickets. SCP-154 is practically unusable for anyone that wasn't a complete lunatic. Even she wouldn't use the bracelets despite being able to bypass its undesirable effects. She couldn't deny its useful possibilities but she would need someone as tough as Hu Tao or crazier than Hu Tao to be able to use this weapon effectively.

SCP-154 is a pair of bracelets that if worn on the same arm, the user performs a pose like they were shooting with a bow, an ethereal bow will form and the bracelets will glow slightly. When the bowstring is pulled and released, the bones of the user will be forcibly shot out from the arm holding the bow, traveling at speeds that could assassinate any normal cultivator. The missing bones and damage to the arm will be quickly regenerated and the bow will be able to be fired again. The unfortunate part of this is that the pain is excruciating for the healing process. There is also a small chance of the user's arm mutating during the healing process and possibly becoming larger, a different color, changing in structure from the original arm, growing extra joints and fingers, or possibly even being replaced with a completely different physical or chemical makeup.

For now, she'll keep it inside her inventory along with the coffin, dumbbells, and SCP-4820's ability. She might find a use for it in the future. The broken sword was actually useless. It was a standard steel sword that was cut in half. There was nothing special about it in the slightest. She even checked using her qi to see if there was some secret hidden inside it. She chucked it into her storage ring and looked at the cloud seed.

The cloud seed was white and round in appearance. When she squeezed it, it was soft and squishy to the touch. One of these days, she'll get around to making that garden but that time isn't now. She didn't know how valuable these seeds were nor did she have anywhere to hide them that the higher-ups in the sect couldn't find. Growing and taking care of them wouldn't be a problem with SCP-914 but keeping them from sight while using them frequently would.

Jing walked outside her house and locked the door behind her. Li Li was cutely perched on her shoulder like usual and she took a walk through the sect. Taking a walk through the sect isn't usually a pleasurable experience. There are very little sights to enjoy within the sect besides the surrounding environment. On a normal day, Jing would see disciples bullying a weaker disciple, disciples fighting each other, disciples nearly killing each other or killing one another, disciples glaring and looking down on one another, and more situations like that.

Seeing this on a regular basis made Jing wonder if all sects were like this and if her vision of a sect would be something truly revolutionary for these barbarians. She initially thought that sects were kind of like a school or academy for furthering cultivation, building social connections, and improving oneself and environment. But it was actually a dog-eat-dog organization that rewarded survival of the fittest and gaining connections instead.

Truly a place that only scum and wastes could thrive in. She'll have to make sure Li Li doesn't gain any bad habits from living in this place. He's an impressionable young boy. There's no telling what could influence him. His recent hobby of making and playing with talismans could only be beneficial for him though. They're like toys in a way, it helps his imagination and patience. She's warned him against using it around people though. An extremely strong cultivator could try and take him if they see him using talismans or rumors would spread about him that would link to her. She is the only person inside the sect with an owl for a pet after all.

She was on her way to choose 5 tasks the sect sets for every disciple every month. The Mission Hall was strangely quiet today. It's usually filled with disciples looking for ways of gaining contribution points or bargaining with each other. It looks like since the Treasured Plains is opening soon, everyone has gone crazy to start preparing for it. The goodies inside must be something truly great if it causes this much of an effect. Jing will have to remind her followers to gain as much as they can during it, a chance like this doesn't come often. Along with causing as much chaos and hell as they can.

Particularly to the three factions that compete in the Outer Court. The first faction was the Huan Clan that are enemies with Ying and Bing. They are the strongest faction in the Outer Court because they had members from the Inner Court. The other two factions, Meihu's group and Jianyu's group, didn't have connections in the Inner Court. This made their greatest strength their numbers.

The Huan Clan didn't accept just anyone into their group. Every member was related to the Huan Clan in some way. This was surprising because the number of people in their group wasn't small. Their blood must be related to some ancient rabbit people or something. They know how to multiple.

She chose 5 relatively easy tasks at the board and gave it to the receptionist at the counter. He marked her name down for the specified tasks so that once she completed them or failed them it would be under her name. There would be a punishment if she failed and contribution points if she succeeded. The severity of the punishment varied depending on the type of task selected. Most disciples choose easy physical labor tasks for their monthly tasks.

There's basically 0 risk and a small amount of contribution points as rewards. Jing chose 5 easy tasks because why wouldn't she? If the average disciples chooses these types of tasks of course she'll pick them too. It would be strange if she chose difficult or special tasks that only certain people could accomplish. That would only bring attention to her and she doesn't wish for that currently. Not until she's built a strong enough faction within the sect. It would be boring if she just took over using her abilities and forced them all to kneel under her rule without any foreplay or games beforehand.

And if there is one thing Jing loves, its foreplay. Watching as things slowly spiral out of control and erupt into the ever-sweet destructive climax is such a rush! That's one of the reasons why she doesn't just cultivate till she's strong enough to kill the sect leader and take over. What's the rush for when she can take her sweet time in playing around with all these different toys? It would be such a waste...

"Hmm? Do you see anything Li Li?" Jing asked him as they travelled through the forest.

"Hoo." He responded while pointing with his talon.

"Oh, you found one of the White Billow Herbs? Thanks." She pocketed the plant from the bush and kept walking.

Jing had to find 10 White Billow Herbs for one of her tasks. These herbs were common materials for alchemists in stabilizing volatile concoctions. They grew all around the Outer Layer of the Immortal Forest. They were common plants to find in this area. Her second task was to bring back the fur of a Tailed Rabbit without any damage. Their fur was valued for its softness and how easy it was to handle a Tailed Rabbit. Even the 9th stage ones could fall to lesser ranked spirit beasts and humans.

She wanted to deal with this spirit beast as a spellmaster. She hasn't really tested her spells against living beings yet. She doubted the beast would be able to do much considering it was a stupid rabbit but it's something. They also lacked survival instincts against humans for the most part and willingly walk up to or around humans. Jing pulled out her refined second weapon.

This thing will be what she uses in public as an apprentice spellmaster. It was a small satchel covered in an unknown beast's fur. It was brown and held a simple design. She wore the strap over her body so where the satchel hung at her hips. She didn't do much when refining this bag. She refined it on very fine and gave it two anomalous abilities. Infinite storing space within and unable to be destroyed. Jing planned to use this thing as a defensive tool for the most part as she pulled out her talisman slips from the bag to deal with her opponents.

It's perfect because her enemies won't be able to get past her bag and if they somehow do, she can just rely on her movement spells to get away while setting up her trapping formation. Its amazingly annoying. It perfectly complements her frightful and passive nature! She'll either tire her enemies to death or annoy them to death by running away! And get this, most of the trapping formations she'll set up won't even be deadly! It'll be a slow peaceful trap that'll cause them to spit up blood and wish that they were dead so they wouldn't have to suffer against such a cowardly opponent who doesn't even have the guts to kill them. It's going to be perfect when she has her ranking match in the future.

"Kyeu." Li Li pointed out.

There was a tailed rabbit in the bush to the left. Its tail was curled and when uncurled it was long enough to be used as an entire limb. Jing reached into her satchel; inside it laid various talisman slips to use. She pulled out the broken sword from her storage ring and stabbed it into the ground. She slapped a conduit spell onto the hilt of the blade and threw out 4 slips around the furry creature. The rabbit tried to flee after seeing the slips attach to the ground around it but only managed to slam its head against the qi barrier formed from the talismans.

Since the person who made this task wanted the fur to be intact and in good quality, Jing had to use one of her less deadly trapping formations. Chains made of qi slowly rose from within the formation and focused on the rabbit. They shot forward and captured the rabbit in an instant. These chains started to siphon the qi from the tailed rabbit and wouldn't let go unless Jing broke the formation or all the qi was sucked from the rabbit.

This formation was the Sealing Array. A rather basic but very effective trapping formation. It was a more effective version of the Sealing spell. With the sealing spell you have to manually attach it to your opponent and make sure that they don't destroy the slip before the chains can immobilize them. The spellmaster also has to make sure the chains can actually catch their opponents as well. This formation is weak against body cultivators as the physical strength of their body is often not affected even without qi.

The tailed rabbit didn't have much qi within its body since it was only a 2nd stage. After sucking the spirit beast dry of all its qi, the chains shattered and the talismans burned into ash from the purple flames. It was easy to take care of the creature now. It laid on the ground barely breathing. Even as Jing stabbed into the ground around it with a sharp stick, it didn't do so much as twitch.

Well, it was definitely pleasant to look at its helpless state but her ranking match will definitely be more fun to watch. Torturing small creatures brings no pleasure for her. She snapped its neck and tied it to her waist before moving on to task #3. Her third task was pretty simple. She had to replace the talisman around one of the villages inside the Immortal Forest that keeps spirit beasts and normal beasts from attacking villages. It was a supportive type spell that casted a certain type of qi barrier over the village. This qi was considered foul and unpleasant to beasts so they avoid it at all costs.

Jing was interested in knowing what type of qi it was in particular but not even her master knew. There were many types of qi in the cultivation world. There was lightning qi, fire qi, water qi, yin qi, yang qi, and many more. But none of those qi were the type of qi that beasts would shy away from. Jing was also curious if the talisman would affect Li Li.

She reached outside Liu Village and replaced the weakening talisman with her own. Li Li squawked in annoyance but seemed fine with it after a few moments. He acted no different from normal after the initial touch of the barrier on his feathers. Jing shrugged her shoulders. Maybe it doesn't work on beasts who are too smart or strong. Guess it was time for task #4, Jing left Liu Village behind and started searching for another common alchemist ingredient. It was called a fire blossom.

It was bright red and usually grown in groups with a fire-type spirit beast nearby. Spirit beasts with a liking towards fire qi eat these kinds of herbs frequently to increase their affinity and strength with fire qi. The marked anteater was a spirit beast that eat these flowers while also deterring any other from disturbing them. Jing found a small area behind a large tree filled with fire blossoms.

She looked around for any signs of a marked anteater near the tree. No burn marks were present but she could definitely hear something underneath the hole in the tree. She took out a Minor Teleport spell and threw it on one of the fire blossoms. The talisman soared through the air and soon attached itself to the flower before teleporting right in front of Jing's feet.

"HNM! HUMH! HNM!" An angry sound yelled out.

Jing giggled as the marked anteater swaggered out of the hole with fire shooting out of its snout looking for the person that disturbed its food. She walked away before it could spot her and was on her way back to the sect. Her final task could've been solved first actually. All she had to do was turn in a Sealing Array to the receptionist at the Mission Hall desk. Sometimes spellmasters can't make their own spells and ask for help by other spellmasters. They sometimes use them to trace over so that they can make their own eventually with enough practice.

"Are you finished already?" The receptionist asked.

"Ah.. Yes... Here is um the formation for the fifth task..." Jing responded pathetically.

He grabbed the slip from her and drew checkmarks on the tasks she completed today before giving her contribution points. He smiled after finishing everything with her.

"Have a good day."

"Goodbye..."

Jing left the Mission Hall and a sudden feeling of emptiness filled her. She's gone an entire day without anyone harassing or trying to bully her in the sect. These Treasured Plains must be something really important if these wastes are training so hard in preparation for it. Maybe she should liven up the place a little bit... What disciple wouldn't drop their training for a brand-new sky-ranked spirit weapon? Who cares if it horribly destroys your arm and might possibly give you a whole living snake as a new arm by mistake? Cultivators will do anything to get stronger than one another. Not to mention if one person doesn't want it, someone else surely would.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Eh nothing really happens this chapter. I'll release an additional chapter tomorrow along with a chapter from my Kirby System story tomorrow because i feel that this chapter is pretty lacking in content.

I decided to give Jing a satchel as her main weapon in public. I've had many great weapon suggestions such as a fan or a pair of fans, a scythe and chain, a regular scythe,a blow gun, zither, umbrella, bow, dagger, throwing knives, tonfas, spear, and even a hairpin and brick! I appreciate all the suggestions given and decided to go with a satchel because i wanted Jing's spells and cowardly nature to show off more than her weapon. The fact that she doesn't even choose a weapon to fight with highlights just how non-combative and peaceful of a cultivator she is.

Slight spoiler: One of the future members of Jing's team will use a refined pair of fans that's why i didn't use a fan. The others were a bit too much for the kind of image i wanted to give Jing for other characters to see when they first look at her.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	35. Jing's First Ranking Match!

Jing cycled her qi throughout her dantian. The barrier preventing her from passing to the 3rd stage wasn't something that could stand against her qi. Her qi was like an unstoppable force of nature to the barrier. If barriers could feel then it would be shaking in terror right now just by being near the internal energy. Jing willed her qi forward towards the barrier. It obeyed her will without a shred of hesitation. It was a part of her after all.

Crash! The internal energy destroyed the barrier like an elephant charging down a human. It was impossible to resist against. It could only shatter under the mighty power of it. Once Jing became a 3rd stage Qi Gatherer, she only felt her body become slightly stronger and the way she could control her qi became a little bit better. It was understandable that it only brought a small boost to her current strength. She was still at the starting stages of cultivation after all. It would be crazy to think that she would gain a larger boost in power when she was refined by something as powerful as 914.

It was time for her ranking match that she was intentionally delayed to the last moment. She got up from her bed and grabbed her refined satchel. Inside of it, was everything she needed for the battle. Li Li was off in the forest for breakfast right now. She would have to leave without him it seems. It would be better since he was absent though, with him being at the 9th stage, she doubted they would allow her to challenge people at her own rank. Not that it would truly matter if they were at the 9th stage or the 3rd stage. Jing could deal with them both with her true strength but publicly 3rd stage was the limit.

She left her house and walked towards the ranking ring. Since she took so long to apply for a ranking match, her opponent was automatically chosen for her. The disciples who chooses opponents typically pick strong opponents for disciples like her who take so long to participate in a ranking match. It was one of the ways they got their kicks by sending cowards up against lions. That's why Jing was standing in front of a 3rd stage Qi Gatherer. He glared at her with a frown. If she didn't breakthrough earlier this would have been an ugly matchup if she was an ordinary cultivator.

* * *

'So, this ugly girl is my opponent huh? She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly. I thought they said she was a 2nd stage but I guess she breakthrough before the battle.' Kuo thought to himself as he glared at her, making her flinch and look away.

This ranking match will be a cakewalk if he has to face against someone like this. She couldn't even look him in the eyes without shaking. If her skin was lighter and tits were bigger, maybe he could feel something looking at this pathetic girl but looking at her now just made him disappointed and frankly angry. This'll take no time at all.

"You should surrender while you can. It won't be much fun beating up a girl like you." He told her in hopes of getting her to surrender so that he can go back home and train.

"I can't give up without even trying... I'm sorry." She squeaked annoyingly.

Stop trying to act so cute when you're so damn ugly! That just pissed Kuo off even more. He ran towards her, intending to end it in one punch. She should be grateful he won't aim at her face; she's already struggling enough in the looks department with skin like that. Her small tits and tiny ass aren't giving her any help either. He aimed a punch towards her stomach.

She frantically reached into that furry bag of hers and took something out. No matter what it was, it couldn't help her against him. Kuo was training to become a body cultivator. Body cultivators held the advantage over qi cultivators due to their strong bodies that could nearly resist everything. Kuo himself has been training with the Iron Body martial art to make his body as hard as iron! He has reached the intermediate realm with it thanks to his family's resources and trained the upper half of his body to be as strong as iron.

He slung his fist towards her abdomen. He waited for his fist to feel the soft belly of the ugly girl and her internal organs to jumble from his punch but only felt his fist strike through the air. Huh? What the hell is going on? Kuo looked up and couldn't find any sign of her in front of him. He started looking around the arena and saw something flying towards him! He caught it with his hand and scowled at the girl. What kind of technique allowed her to escape from his fist?

The object in his hand started sizzling and he finally looked at it.

'She threw a talisman at me!? Is that how she got away from me the first time!? Wait this damn thing is active!' Kuo rapidly tried to shake off the talisman slip from his hand but could only watch as it exploded in a powerful force of qi that knocked him to the edge of the ring.

His head rung from the impact of the spell and he had trouble getting back up. Everything sounded muffled in his brain but his body wasn't hurt. That was the good part of this situation. At least he couldn't hear those annoying girls anymore. Screaming about Shang Zhai and whatnot. Who the hell even is Shang Zhai? What was a bastard like that doing watching his ranking match in the first place?

Kuo shook his head and focused his attention back on the frail girl. She was setting up a formation! He had to stop her no matter what before she could finish it. He didn't know what kind of formation she was trying to place but knowing just one was set up was enough to get his head back in the fight. He rushed towards her.

"Get over here and fight me bitch!" Kuo roared.

The girl ran away with her bag around the stage. She couldn't run forever and Kuo was not stupid. He made sure she couldn't run around him and trapped her at one of the edges of the stage. He kept his eyes focused on her like a hawk. He didn't know how she got away from him earlier and if she tries it again, he'll get to see how this time. He pounced at her with his arms outstretched.

She looked about as frightened as a damn cat. There's no way she'll be able to escape his hands this time. He was about to grab her throat with his hand and slam her into the ring's stone floor but before he could even touch her, she disappeared again! Just what in the hell was going on here?! He whipped his head around to see that she was directly behind him and he lunged again.

She barely managed to roll out of the way and placed another talisman on the edge of the ring's floor. That's two talismans he failed to stop her from placing. He couldn't let her place anymore or what face could he possibly keep by the end of this fight? Just look at the clumsy untrained cowardly mess of an opponent he was facing. She was only getting by through luck!

'If she faced me head on there would be no way she could stand up to me!'

Kuo couldn't help but roar out his frustration as he charged towards the girl once more. He even heard her squeak as he was coming towards her. She ran away again while digging into that bag of hers again. There's no doubt that's where those talismans where coming from! Even if Kuo had no experience fighting spellmasters, he knows enough that they are weak crafty cowards who can't handle a fight up close. All he had to do was fight her up close and it'll be his win!

The strange thing about this situation was that even with how strong his body was, that girl was just a step slower than him somehow! His eyes had to playing tricks on him, there was no way she could be that fast. It had to be a spell or something that is increasing her speed. It won't last forever though and once he gets his hands on her, he'll wring her neck for placing him in such an annoying situation!

He caught her bag's strap as she was running and lifted it up along with her. A grin filled with all his anger and annoyance shined at her. The damage he plans to give this girl isn't something pretty. She has run around and treated him like a fool this entire time. If she isn't at least crippled for wasting his time like this, he'll make sure to try and cripple her a second time.

He threw his fist towards her face and she held up her bag to defend against his punch. He could only laugh at her miserable attempts to protect herself. His attack launched her and her bag towards the edge of the ring. She flew through the air and just barely managed to stay in the ring. She crouched near the edge with blood leaking down her mouth and holding her head. He could feel a terrible killing intent focusing in on him from the stands and felt like pissing his pants.

Did he just mess with some guy's girlfriend whose way stronger than he is? He looked towards the stands and met eye to eye with the guy who came here with his groupies, Shang Zhai. From what he could sense, he was an 8th stage Qi Gatherer. He was glaring at him with enough killing intent to scare him into his next life.

'Yeah, I just signed my own death warrant by getting in a match with this guy's ugly girlfriend. Why the hell would he care for someone like this when he has so many beautiful girls on his side right now? I would take literally any of those beautiful flawless jade skinned girls next to him over this girl. She literally has no appeal in the looks department!'

"I did it..." Kuo heard a voice softly mutter. She stabbed a sword into the ground and attached a spell onto the hilt.

He looked around to see that qi barriers were rising above him before trapping him inside a cube. He banged his fists on the barriers with all his strength to try and get out but only managed to cause ripples on the surface of them. Impossible! Impossible! He only saw her place down 2 talisman slips! A formation takes at minimum 3 to form but this has four sides! When could she have possible had time to place two...

His brain worked faster than it has ever worked before. It had to have been when she threw that first spell at him! When he caught it in his hand and was knocked to the edge of the ring! He couldn't see nor hear anything during that time so, she must have used the opportunity to place down two spells! That crafty ugly bitch! Kuo banged on the barriers with his anger and frustration fueling his strength to pound her into a messy pile of meat but it was useless. It's impossible to break free of an activated formation unless a cultivator is vastly stronger than the spellmaster they are facing against.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL TEAR YOU APART YOU UGLY BITCH!"

* * *

Darkness filled the formation. Those within the formation couldn't see anything inside the formation and those from outside couldn't see anything either. This was the Nightmare Rending Array. Those that find themselves trapped within it will have their senses slowly removed from them and lost in a world of eternal darkness. There is no light, there is no hope, and there is no feeling. Only their thoughts are present in the never-ending darkness. The connection to their body will be lost and soon the only thing they'll be able to feel is the darkness encroaching on their mind and soul as it lulls them into an infinite sleep.

Quite the nasty formation isn't it? It isn't Jing's style to torture in such a soft way but then again, is it really soft? It could be one of the nastiest ways of causing someone to suffer. To some physical torture is definitely the better option which is what she would be putting him through if this battle wasn't public. A simple foolish way of describing this array would be to say it's the Sleeping Array. It simply puts your opponent to sleep.

That's probably why no one really uses it. Even her master looked down on this spell but after experiencing it for herself, she can definitely say it's much more than just a sleeping array. The mental damage you can put someone through using this formation is especially delicious. It would be so much better if she could witness what they were going through outside the spell, seeing them slowly lose themselves as they are swallowed by the darkness. But no such luck for her. She couldn't see what was going on inside and could only guess when enough time has passed. That was another one of the negatives of this formation.

If she faced against someone with an especially strong mind it could be days before they succumb to the darkness. Thankfully, this Kuo fellow was rather weak. He couldn't last 5 minutes before losing. The formation dropped once it sensed he was no longer resisting and he was curled up in a ball in the middle of the ring. She looked towards the referee and he called the match, prompting Jing to give a victorious fist pump to herself. A cheerful joyous smile to keep up appearances before looking embarrassed and shuffling away.

She managed to catch a small smile on Shang Zhai's face and honestly felt like smashing the little love idiot's brain in. Does he know how much attention he's bringing to her by watching her match like this? How did he even find out about it?! Has he been watching her since she's got here? Doesn't that mean he might also know her relation to her followers?

'Will I have to kill him to silence him or can I use his obvious affections for me...?' Jing thought to herself.

There was no doubt in her mind that he knew of her followers meeting at her house often. She doubted he would try and use that information against her but there's no guarantee that he would keep it secret either. If he's really annoying, he might just go to her followers personally and ask them. She'll have to think of a way to deal with lover boy eventually. For now, she'll continue preparing her plans for the Treasured Plains and make sure to avoid gaining attention. It's too early to have any important eyes on her and with someone as talented and popular as Shang Zhai watching her, he's bound to bring trouble.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jing wins her first ranking match without even throwing a single punch! Haha was it enjoyable to read or did it make you mad to see her acting so cowardly? It was fun to write for me to say the least!

I want to clarify something by the way! Jing is in no shape or form actually ugly if we were to look at her through our eyes but this is a xianxia which is based on chinese fiction. The chinese hate black people and consider dark skin actually ugly and unappleasing. This is why so many people in this story are so turned off by Jing's dark skin. Jing is just a plain and average girl with a small chest, and petite behind.

This chapter was actually suppose to come out at 12am along with my Kirby System story but i forgot i said i would add an extra chapter because the last chapter was so uneventful. My bad everyone!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	36. Training For The Plains!

Bing was tired. All throughout the week he has been on constant nonstop ranking matches thanks to the instructions of Hu Tao. The matches at first weren't really much of a problem. With his shield, it was very hard to find anyone that could contest with him and make him go all out. If things continued to go this way, Bing wouldn't be as tired as he is now.

The issue was that the Huan Clan has figured out that he's doing ranking matches and has been sending their members after him constantly. Since he was below the 1000th rank, he wasn't able to refuse any challenges made to him unless he wanted to be expelled from the sect on the account of being 'too weak to survive'. So whenever one ranking match was done, he was immediately challenged by another Huan clan member. It was like the Huan clan within the sect had no shortage of 3rd stage Qi Gatherers and 4th stage Qi Gatherers to send at him.

He swore after he was done with one, they'd eat a recovery pill and qi pill before challenging him again! Bing refuses to let this go on any longer. They'd definitely sap him of all his remaining stamina and kill him like a pathetic dog soon. Either he would have to start killing them or figure out a less violent way of dealing with this issue.

"Oi! Getting tired fatty?! We can do this all day till your begging on your knees for forgiveness." His female opponent taunted.

"Yes, I'm very tired. You wouldn't mind me taking a little rest, do you?" Bing plopped to the ground as sweat poured down his body.

She glared at him but he was completely serious. This was his 5th fight in a row today and he was no closer to the second leaderboard than he was when he first started. He just wanted a break from all the fighting and just eat some food. Bing knew how important it was to gain as much strength as you could as a cultivator because he came from a family of cultivators. Not a good one but one nonetheless. This training idea was a great idea and all but even with training it has its limits. Some rest is needed, no matter how crazy the training is.

Oh, it seems his opponent had enough of him taking a rest in the middle of their fight. She was building up a scary amount of qi in that sword of hers. Bing still wanted catch his breathe a bit more though.

"Please take a couple more minutes charging up that move of yours. I still need some more time." He said politely.

"I'M GOING TO RIP RIGHT THROUGH YOUR GUTS FAT ASS!"

"Ah, please spare my poor ears miss. Your clan is already working me like a slave. I don't deserve to have my ears bleed as well, do I?"

This only made her scream obscenities at him even louder. If he tried to cover his ears, he wouldn't be able to block this lightning sword slash of hers. He had to be the most unfortunate guy inside the Golden Serpent Sect. All he wanted to do was get a little strong, meet a nice girl with a good body, and live the rest of his life with her.

That dream was effectively shattered once his life was saved by the Empress. Just like the hopes of this girl wanting to pierce straight through his shield. He stood up before her lightning-clad blade reached him and blocked the attack head on with flesh toughened by his auxiliary martial art. The attack had quite some power in it because he was pushed all the way to the edge of the ring after being hit by it. Even the middle of his shield was darkened from the strike of that technique.

"That was a great move of yours. I hope you don't mind if I take a little break after something that powerful. If it was anyone other than me, I'm sure they would've died horribly." Bing sat his round butt back on the ground.

He scooted a bit closer towards the middle of the ring so that if anything unexpected happened he wouldn't fall over the edge and lose. Bing planned to use this chance while she was out of energy and couldn't attack to recover his stamina. One of his shield art techniques was based around this strategy in a way. It was called Art of Blocking. This was the first lesson of his shield art and it was focused on having the shield wielder practice on nullifying the most damage from their opponents and wasting their enemy's energy by forcing them to use high-energy moves.

It was surprisingly hard. You think it'd be easy to just block and guess that your opponent will go all out to kill you but the instructions were more in depth than Bing would ever guess. There were strategies like forcing your opponent to chase you around, tricking them into thinking their attacks are effective when you're really just moving along with their hits and not actually taking the full brunt of their hits, and even taunting them until their red in the face and wanting nothing more than to shut you up and kill you.

Building stamina was a must for shield-wielders. Bing is just now seeing why that is so important first-hand. His opponent wanted nothing more than to slice him up into pieces with that cute glare in her eyes but after using that big lightning move from earlier, she could barely move. She was on all fours breathing heavily. He guessed she didn't expect that he could take a deadly technique like that head on.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"GET UP AND KILL HIM ALREADY!"

"YOU'RE EMBARRASSING OUR CLAN OUT HERE!" The other Huan clan members yelled.

Their 'cheers' managed to give the girl some more fight in her. Bing still wanted some time to rest so he picked up a piece of the stage that broke from him blocking her lightning strike and threw it at her waist. It landed dead on and she dropped back to the stage with a painful groan.

"YOU CHEAP ASSHOLE!"

"SHE'S JUST A GIRL!"

"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY PRIDE AS A MAN?!"

Bing dug out any earwax in his ears while whistling. He definitely did not hear any criticism towards himself during a ranking match where one's life is at stake. Plus, it was those scumbags speaking anyway. Any judgement from them was mute based on the fact that they're trying to kill him for defending himself.

She was still squirming a bit on the ground which made Bing happy. The referee can't call the match unless one of the fighters was completely incapacitated, they surrendered, or they died. She still had some fight in her and didn't want to give up yet. Bing would've declared his love for her at this moment if he didn't feel that she would probably faint out of shock once he said it. He has to manage his stamina well right now.

"Just give up and let us kill him instead!"

"Worthless..."

"You still have a chance. Don't give up yet." Bing told her.

She vomited blood and dropped face first into it. Ah hell, it wasn't a declaration of love that did it but friendly advice? What has the world come to where a man can't give friendly advice without someone dropping over dead? Here comes the 6th fight of the day...

"I won't embarrass myself like this fool." He kicked the girl out of the ring and looked towards the referee.

"You don't think it's embarrassing how your clan is sending so many people after me without letting me catch a single break? I'm only a 3rd stage Qi Gatherer you know. My talent is average. I have no connections in the sect. It's not a worthy investment at all for your clan even if you kill me." Bing tried to reason.

"I don't know why we're after you either but it doesn't really matter all that much. You got on the bad side of our clan and that's good enough reason for me to kill you." He slammed his fists together and rushed towards Bing.

"Don't be too strong, alright? I'm only good at fighting weaklings. I'm the normal one in my group after all..."

"DROP DEAD!" His fist radiated with a frosty aura.

* * *

"That was a great technique young man!" Lei Zhi complimented.

"SHUT YOUR FACE!" He responded.

It seems when fighting young people, they don't seem to like it when they are complimented after not succeeding. They tend to think that you are looking down on them and mocking their efforts. That's another one to remember for the future. The youthful disciple turned around and slashed his sword at Lei Zhi with a lot of waste in his movements. Even though he was blind, he could see the attacks very clearly. Too clearly, he's already seen his opponent's next 3 moves with his 'eyes.'

Lei Zhi was not a fool though. He knew this advantage isn't useful against those much stronger than him. His old body wouldn't be able to keep up even if his eyes could. That's why he was planning to get a good body martial art and a decent cultivation technique before or during the Treasured Plains. Right now, he could handle it with his movement martial art but if he ever ran into someone vastly stronger than himself, he could only pray and run away. Or he could rely on Xiurong, which is what he's most likely going to do. She's pretty strong and pregnant apparently! It must have been before he fished her out of the dimensional slit.

Lei Zhi calmly slipped passed the angry youth once again and fished up a part of the ring with his fishing hook. He slung the rod forward and sent the stone hurling towards the young man. The stone blocked his opponent's vision and was the only thing he could see. The energetic youth's strength wasn't bad though. He slashed right through the stone material and tried to dash right for Lei Zhi. Unfortunately for him, Lei Zhi didn't only throw one piece of the stage. The hidden rock lodged itself into the gut of the young disciple and knocked him out of the ring, giving Lei Zhi the win.

Lei Zhi wanted to give the boy some comforting words but the last few days have taught him that that would only backfire and cause the boy to be even more furious with him. The youth today are different from the youth in his days. Positivity and kindness just seem absent and are actively looked down upon. He will have to try and change that in the future...

* * *

Ying was inside the Martial Pavillion looking for a strong suitable auxiliary martial art that could complement her other fire-based martial arts. She only had enough points to take an Earth-ranked one but all the Earth-ranked support manuals were either incomplete and dangerous or didn't fit well with her fire qi. She still decided to take a look at the incomplete ones though. Maybe if she was lucky, she could awaken a bloodline and suddenly be able to read the unreadable text.

The support manual she picked up was called Overbearing Amalgamation of Flames. Quite the powerful name for something only in the Earth-ranked section of the library. The beginning pages of this manual were pretty exciting. Based on what it told her, this support technique had the possibility of matching sky-ranked support techniques and even heaven-ranked ones if she could gather enough Mystic Flames to combine.

There were numerous mystic flames around the world and very rarely could you see someone able to use these flames. This was because each mystic flame had their own will. If you could not resonate with that flame or dominate it with a superior will, you would be consumed by the flame itself. It was one of Ying's goals to take a mystic flame for herself but if she had this technique, she would take them all!

Sadly though, this dream of her would never come to fruition because of the fact that the characters inside the manual were faded and entirely unreadable! Even if she squinted or put the book directly up to her face, she still couldn't read a single word of it. If Elder Zhong wasn't watching her right now, she'd burn the useless thing into ash! Hah... How great would it have been to have a skill like that?

She walked away and sat at one of the tables. Her whole goal for coming here was a bust. She'd have to wait until she's gained enough contribution points to look at the Sky-ranked manuals to get a useful auxiliary art.

Hey, what was that guy doing?

He was quickly flipping through all the incomplete earth-ranked techniques just like she was but when he landed on the support manual she gave up on, he smiled like a dirty creep. What the hell was that about? He took the book to the counter and looked like he planned on taking it home to practice. But that was impossible, the instructions to practicing that technique were unreadable! Could he somehow read that faint ink? No way...

"You do know the issue with this martial art is right?" Elder Zhong asked him.

"Haha do not worry Elder! If I can't get anything out of it, I'll be sure to bring it back. I'm just going to try my luck to see if I can gain anything from such a technique."

He shrugged, "Your contribution points, not mine."

…..

Ying followed him all the way back to his home. She couldn't help that annoying feeling in the back of her head telling her that he had a way of practicing that technique. That slimy smile of his reeked of something suspicious. The way he was flipping back and forth through the manual just increased her suspicions against him. He should only be looking at faded characters but it looks like he's reading a complete martial text.

"Oi! Fang! We heard that a frog has been trying to taste the meat of a swan. We're here on the behalf of Gong Jun to beat you half to death!" Some weakling yelled.

"You've been acting too chummy with Princess Lan."

"We're sure to get in Gong Jun's good side by teaching you a lesson about messing with his woman."

"Hey hey hey! Who the hell brought these barking mutts to my door? You think someone as handsome and as righteous as me would need to take another man's woman? Think again! Liu Lan has been my woman since I laid eyes on her. Anyone else trying to claim her for their own is just delusional."

"Has this brat gone insane?"

"This trash has definitely lost it. He's only at the 3rd stage and he thinks he can insult us?"

"We're at the 4th stage waste! Get ready for your beating."

"Let this daddy here teach you dumb dogs a lesson about barking in front of my house." He cracked his knuckles and brought forth two flames from his hands.

He manically laughed as he brought the two flames together and merged them into a deeper bigger flame. He shot the flame towards the three weaklings and burned them into a pile of charred bodies. He definitely has some sort of magic treasure that lets him read that technique. Ying knew she had to take it from him.

Ying appeared behind him with her sword dragging behind her back.

"How did you do that?"

He looked at her in shock before taking a glance at her sword then at her chest.

"I might be willing to tell you what you want if you spend a night with me in my house, beautiful elder martial sister."

This pervert has just signed his own tombstone. Ying kicked one of the barely alive bodies towards him as a distraction for her true attack. It flew with enough force to match an arrow shot from a master bowman. She leapt behind the body while watching the perv. His hands ignited in flames and he did a palm strike, smashing the body into the ground. His eyes bulged out as Ying appeared directly over him with her sword raised, ready to cleave him in half from above!

"YOU'RE FREAKING CRAZY!" His entire body erupted in a light blue flame.

Ying felt like her blood was freezing to a stop as she felt the temperature of that flame. That was a mystic flame! He was in possession of one of the mystic flames somehow! Now she has no choice but to take everything he has! She continued her swing downward. Her eyes focused in on him as he blasted away from her attack.

"Give me everything you have or die." She threatened.

"You're insane!" He rubbed his silver earring with his left hand.

A light gleamed in her eyes as she focused in on that earring. She vanished from her previous spot and snatched the earrings and support manual from his body. Her hands were freezing at a slow rate but that was nothing her flames couldn't fix.

"What...? Impossible! How did you?!" Ying back fisted him in the forehead and knocked him unconscious, along with snuffing out his icy flames.

She put on the earring for herself and opened up the manual. The characters were slowly deepening in color and she could actually read what was on the text! How amazing! Imagine what other incomplete manuals she could read with this spirit tool! Maybe she could even find something suitable for Bing with this thing! Ying walked away with a new auxiliary technique under her belt and a free spirit tool that definitely had to be at or above earth-rank. How lucky was she that the person in possession of such a nice thing was pretty weak? Maybe next time she sees him, he'll have found another useful magical treasure for her to take. It was too bad she didn't know how to steal someone's mystic flame.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this chappy we have Bing's continued rivalry or battle with the Huan Clan, Lei Zhi's road to instructing youths in the future, and Ying's bountiful gain thanks to her personality!

Next chapter we have a solo chapter about Hu Tao and i think you'll enjoy it come Friday. I had a lot of fun writing it and all i can say is expect an interesting fight and the introduction of another person of fate (Main character) to the story.

If you are interested in what Xiurong, the pregnant crab, looks like in her full glory. Check out this link: . /v1/fill/w_1000,h_652,q_75,strp/krebs_by_000fesbra000_ ?token= 1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NjUyIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMGJlODMxZDEtMDcyNC00NjI2LWIxYjQtOTVkY2RkMjRhYThmXC9kNjdydWhzLTRmYWUzZmM5LTYwMWQtNDczOC05ZGVhLWY0ZTk5NGM0Y2E4Zi5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTAwMCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.2GqMpaN4xypW9CSgsgPV5LL8w5NQrg9Hyqy-AJdUvIk

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	37. The Villainous Thug: Hu Tao!

Hu Tao found himself strolling through the Inner Court looking for a good fight. His thick ,wild, and wavy white hair flowed in the wind and his lack of a shirt showed off his powerful muscles. Jing still hasn't contacted him about his task and he's going crazy with all this pent-up energy. Up ahead, he saw a stupid looking weakling walking along with this fat chested slut. She was happily running her mouth while the shrimp just listened and nodded along with whatever she was blabbing about. They both look pretty young to be walking around the Inner Court. Do they got connections with some elders or are they really talented?

The sides of Hu Tao's lips turned up. Why don't he find out for himself whether these two are talented or not? He changed directions and headed straight towards them while whistling innocently. As they were about to pass by each other, Hu Tao suddenly shoulder bashed towards the chick. Stupid bimbo didn't even feel his killing intent when he was walking up towards them. If anything, she deserves this for being so careless.

"Whoa, are you okay senior martial brother?" The shrimp actually managed to get in front of the dumb bitch and block his attack?

"Aha. Sorry about that. Almost tripped." Hu Tao smiled before walking away.

That look in the shrimp's eyes were definitely interesting. He was ready to defend her no matter what. Hehe... Let's see how he handles this. Before he got too far away from the duo, he disappeared and reappeared behind the shrimp with a spinning elbow strike to the back of the head. His eyes gleamed as he imagined the little shrimp's head rolling on the ground after this attack.

However, the fucking midget ducked and dodged his attack before grabbing the tits and jumping away.

"Hey, don't run away so soon. I was only kidding around you know? It's not like I'm trying to kill ya!" Hu Tao dashed towards the two and swiped towards them with his claws.

The brat blocked his attacked with his forearm coated in qi. His claws didn't even leave a mark on him. That qi was condensed heavily, the brat must have found a sky-ranked or higher martial art that let him condense that much qi. That's good. Maybe he'll be able to give him a good fight. But he won't be able to fight him with that dead weight on his shoulders, he should do him a favor and get rid of it.

Hu Tao got on all fours.

"Why are you attacking me!? I have never met you before in my life and I'm sure I haven't offended you in any way!" The shrimp said.

"Oh, you offended me alright! Carrying around a hot piece of ass like that all for yourself? How selfish can you be?! Give this disciple a share of the ass too!" Hu Tao pounced towards the shrimp.

He coated his body in that dense ass qi again but Hu Tao wasn't an idiot. Just before he reached the shorty, he leaped over him entirely and thrusted his claw out towards the cow's throat.

"Shen!" She screamed.

"No! Meili! You bastard!" The shorty screamed.

His body erupted in that dense blue qi. Hu Tao was blasted away but he didn't fail to do what he wanted. He controlled his chain like another limb as he was flying away and wrapped it around the throat of the broad, snatching her out of the shrimp's hand. She couldn't even scream out as she flew towards Hu Tao. Hu Tao dragged his claws in the dirt to stop his momentum and saw that the brat was fucking glaring at him like he just murdered his family or something.

"Now that this useless bitch is out of the way, maybe you can take this fight seriously." Hu Tao roughly slapped her breasts as his chains snaked around her body up and wrapped her up completely.

"Release her now." His 2nd stage Qi Consolidation aura grew stronger.

"I like the attitude shrimp but you're not in the position to be making demands. You save that shit for when you are stronger than me. Follow me. We can't have a real fight inside the sect." Hu Tao hefted the chick over his shoulder as he walked towards the Immortal Forest.

"I will never forgive you for this..." His tone deepened and his qi got even sharper.

"That's what I'm hoping for. Also, turn down the qi flares. If I get a scratch on me because of them, I'm gonna do something you're gonna regret." Hu Tao pinched the shapely ass of his little girlfriend, causing her to yelp. Hu Tao controlled his chains to cover her mouth.

He could feel the kid's anger slowly rising. This was turning out better than he thought. Who knew the first person he'd pick was actually a hidden dragon? He was kinda looking forward to this fight now. He hoped that he had even more to show him. Maybe he should kill the girl before they fight... Would his strength explode even more?

"Just wait Meili... I promise I'll save you."

Hu Tao brought him pretty far into the Immortal Forest. They had plenty of room to go all out and possible destroy a small section of this forest. Small, because he doubted the brat would be able to make him go all out. Unless he was hiding a few magical treasures on him, then Hu Tao believed he could use his full strength.

"This place looks good enough." Hu Tao casually threw the chick on the ground and cracked his knuckles with a smile.

"You rea-" Hu Tao was rudely interrupted with a fist to the face as soon as he dropped the girl down.

He crashed through multiple trees as the shrimp tried to rip apart the chains he left on the girl. Those chains aren't gonna break no matter how hard he tries. Hu Tao believed that they were actually unbreakable because no matter what he tried with them; this spirit weapon just wouldn't crack. Hu Tao slowly got up from the 4th tree he just broke in half and howled. Soundwaves from his howl, knocked away anything around his body. He could feel his body and qi getting stronger. That was a damn good hit the shorty got him with.

He got on all fours and dashed towards him. He was still trying to get rid of the chains wrapped around the cow. Ah, this won't be very fun if he doesn't put his heart into it. Hu Tao rammed into the midget with his elbow and gave him a taste of his own medicine. He flew through 6 trees and Hu Tao stood over the girl with the big honkers. He picked her up by the back of the head and waited till the shrimp got back.

Once he saw him with her in his hand, his qi started building up again. Now this was exciting, it was kind of like fighting Jing that first time. Let's see just how strong he can really get.

"You aren't taking this fight seriously if you got time to worry about this dead weight. Do I have to kill her for you to take me seriously?" Hu Tao put a single nail across the throat of the cow.

"I will rend your flesh and eat your bones if you dare!" He stomped the ground, causing little cracks to form underneath his foot.

"Don't threaten me with a good time kid." Hu Tao giggled manically as he slowly dragged his finger across her throat, a red line dripping blood soon followed.

"AHHHHHHH!" He exploded.

Hu Tao's body was sent flying through 10 trees this time, he made sure to count. The chick also wasn't in his hand anymore. He was also pretty sure if his chains weren't wrapped around his body, his bones would be cracked from the impact of that charge. Haha that fucking son of a bitch! He didn't even get to kill her! Hu Tao howled into the air and even more strength filled his body. The shrimp suddenly appeared in front of him and tried to slug him in the face.

Hu Tao punched back and clashed with the little freak. The whites of his eyes were visible and his small frame was rippling with muscles and veins now. The shorty pulled back his other arm and tried to punch him with that hand but Hu Tao just copied his same movements and they were back at the stalemate.

"Don't tell me all you have is brute force and some strong qi? You're gonna need more than that if you wanna kill me." Hu Tao unballed his fists and grabbed the shrimp's fists before lifting him up and throwing him into the ground.

The midget bounced off the ground from the impact and Hu Tao stomped down on his chest, burying him even further into the ground. He tried to lift his foot but the little freak grabbed hold of his foot and slammed him into the ground. Hu Tao had to go with the throw unless he wanted his ankle broken. He fell into the dirt face first. He could hear the weakling getting out of his hole and quickly followed after his example.

"Shen! You have to snap out of it! Look! I'm fine okay!?" An annoying voice interrupted.

Hu Tao could feel the bastard's qi waning and his pupils returning. No! His fight! She was trying to take away his long-deserved fight! Hu Tao kicked his metal ball towards her mouth, in hopes of shutting her up for good. He saw her attempt to defend against it with some technique but it wasn't even needed as the fucking brat blocked it with both of his forearms.

"Get out of here Sister Meili! I can't defend you and fight him at the same time! He's stronger than he looks!"

"Promise me you'll make it out of this alive!"

"I wouldn't dare leave you all by yourself... Now leave!"

She nodded with tears in her eyes before turning back and running away.

"Well, isn't that fucking touching? Once I'm done with you, maybe I'll have a little fun with her afterward eh?" Hu Tao sneered.

"Over my dead body."

"I can fix that." Hu Tao chuckled.

"Try me." He got into a proper martial stance this time around.

Hu Tao got on all fours and leapt forward. He rapidly slashed at the shrimp with his claws. The annoying little fuck met him blow for blow, he deflected Hu Tao's attacks at the perfect moment with his palms and left him in a vulnerable position! The midget aimed a powerful blow at his stomach as he looked defenseless. But was he really defenseless? Did this little fetus really get him out of position?

Hu Tao grinned as his metal ball moved like it had a mind of its own and smashed into the sissy's fist, knocking his fist into the ground, and allowing Hu Tao enough time to recover and kick him across the face. He was sent spinning through the air in a spiral and Hu Tao followed after him as he was flying, landing multiple blows all around him as the shrimp was spinning mid-air. Hu Tao finished his assault with a sharp kick to the face from above that kicked Shen 6 feet under.

He wasn't done yet though, his chains latched around the foot of Shen and launched him high into the air. Hu Tao crashed Shen into the dirt once more and used his chain to pull Shen towards him at high-speeds. This was getting boring now. It was more fun when that bitch with the tits was still here. Now the little idiot isn't even trying.

'Guess I'll kill him and then go after the slut next.' Hu Tao pulled back his arm.

Shen finally reached Hu Tao and Hu Tao plunged his entire arm through his stomach, prompting a pathetic scream to cry out from him. The nearby animals and spirit beasts fled from the sound of the terrible cry. The fucking brat's qi was strong at first but has only been getting weaker as the fight went on. Hu Tao shook his arm a little while inside Shen to get a couple more screams out of him before taking his arm out and throwing him to the ground like a sack. Shen rolled miserably and could only whimper and wheeze with a hole through his stomach.

"I hope that titty bitch will be more fun than this pussy was. I'm definitely gonna tear her ass up. Before I go though... let's see if he had anything good on him." Hu Tao began searching Shen's barely living body and found a brown martial book.

He quickly flipped through it and smiled. This was a damn good palm martial art! It had to be at least Sky-ranked from what he could tell. He's gonna use this for himself till he can find a better one more offense focused. Hu Tao could still hear the shrimp slowly breathing and smacked him on the chest.

"Haha, just die already pipsqueak. You are only making things more painful for yourself. Oh, and thanks for the Flowing Palms of Judgement kid." Hu Tao got up and started walking back to the sect, leaving behind Shen's body for the animals.

* * *

'I'm sorry Sister Meili... I failed you... I couldn't defeat him...' Shen lamented as his foe pierced a hole through his abdomen.

'He was too strong... I tried everything I could to defeat him. My sky-ranked Flowing Palms of Judgement were no use against him. My heaven-ranked cultivation technique didn't give me the power I needed when my own life was in danger. I should've trained harder.' Shen was tossed on the ground, causing his already fatal injury to get even worse.

He coughed up blood and a little bit of his insides.

'I should've cultivated more diligently... I should've done all I could to keep fighting. I should've run away once I knew I couldn't win. Then maybe... I wouldn't be sitting here, dying. I wouldn't be passing on knowing that you might be joining me soon. Hopefully, Elder Suyin will protect you before he can get to you. I know that she is stronger than she claims to be. Her origins are not as simple as most people think...'

"...Gonna tear her ass up."

'No...! Meili! I have to... get back up. I have to keep fighting... For Meili. I can't let him near her... I can't let him hurt her...! Body please respond to me! Even if it's just a finger, let me poke his eyes out at the very least! Come on work you useless body!' He could only wheeze as his body was robbed by that monster.

'WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK..." His heart responded to plea as Hu Tao faded into the distance.

His vision was fading as well but his regrets were too strong. His will to live was overwhelming. His heart bumped and thumped every time he repeated himself. His body glowed in a faint blue light. The hole in his gut responded positively to this light. This light produced by his undying wish and unstoppable will to live. His ancient hidden bloodline responded to his hope. His bloodline that was has never shown a trace of itself until this day, when he needed it most.

One of the rarest bloodlines across the Evergreen continent. The Azure Dragon's bloodline. Those who were said to wield this bloodline were said to have the blood of kings and tyrants! They were born to rule with fierce power that couldn't be matched! It has been 1,000s of years since another member of this bloodline has awakened. What will this spell for the future of the Evergreen continent?

Shen's body was being destroyed and reconstructed by the blue light. Becoming something infinitely tougher than the mortal body he was born with. It wasn't just his body either that was being reformed, his qi, organs, and even cells were all being refined into a body suitable for a descendent of the Azure Dragon's bloodline. By the time the transformation was finished, 5 months would have passed with him not being aware of the change that has happened to him.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright everyone. I feel like this chapter kind of shows exactly the type of person Hu Tao is when left to his own devices. I enjoyed writing his terrible behavior and actions very much! I'm very much in love with villainous characters and the worse they are the better for me but that doesn't mean i don't enjoy a good-natured character every now and then.

So far the nicest person on the main cast would be Lei Zhi with Bing taking a place behind him. But anyway tell me what you thought of the chapter! If you enjoyed it, tell me why. If you hated it, tell me why.

Next chapter on Monday we'll be seeing a few new characters with a little bit of Jing and find out some future events that will happen to her.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	38. The Calm Before the Storm! (18)

Leng Huan leisurely sat in front of his fire place. He was at the 4th stage of the Qi Consolidation realm. His strongest and most loyal men were kneeling before him. They had important information to share with him. If they didn't, they wouldn't be intruding on his alone time right now. His fellow clan members knew just how upset he gets when his personal time is interrupted. Some of the newest members that were accepted into the sect were punished because of it.

"Our fellow clan members are cultivating diligently for the Treasured Plains coming soon. As you ordered, our goal will be to acquire as many resources and take as many magic treasures we can get out hands on to strengthen our clan even more." Bingwen relayed. He was a 2nd stage Qi Consolidator.

Leng Huan nodded his head. The stronger their clan gets, the easier it will be to become a solid faction within the sect. He can't afford to give them resources unless he wanted to drain the group's funds dry and weaken them. Right now, they must acquire resources on their own to advance. But after they take the Plains, he'll be free to arm his clan members and make them stronger than any other faction regardless of talent. After that they can finally go all out to eliminate those fools that dare to resist against his clan.

"Meihu's faction has been silent lately. Most of their members are cultivating in their homes or gaining contribution points. Not even willing to start fights with our clan or Jianyu's group. Even if we taunt them, they run away." Chaun informed. He was a 1st stage Qi Consolidator.

Leng nodded. That silly woman must be planning something. It's just like her to be scheming something and hiding away like a mouse. But that's expected of a woman. No matter what she's planning, his clan will be able to handle it without any issues. They are the strongest in the Outer Court and after they succeed in strengthening themselves in the Plains, he plans to fully annihilate both of their groups along with the smaller factions wishing to take advantage of their battle and rise from the conflict.

"Elder Ru and Elder Chang have been seen frequently leaving the sect. We suspect that they may be obtaining magic treasures or resources for their disciples to cultivate with. Elder Mo hasn't left his abode along with his disciples. Their actions are a mystery but we believe they are being trained personally by Elder Mo." Chun shared. He was a 3rd stage Qi Consolidator and the second strongest within their clan.

The Head Elder's disciples are going to be the biggest obstacles to his clan's rise to power. For now, they should avoid making enemies with them. They have too many powerful cultivators that could squash his clan at its current strength.

"Tell this to the rest of our clan, do not make enemies with the Head Elders' disciples under any circumstance. Even if they insult our clan and lineage, we cannot afford to go head to head with them. Or it will spell the end for our clan at the Golden Serpent Sect." Leng told them.

"Yes!" They responded simultaneously.

"Is there any other information that needs my attention?"

"Librarian Zhong has gotten a disciple recently and Elder Ru has taken in a male disciple. They are both still in the Qi Gatherer realm so, I didn't believe they were worthy of attention." Bingwen said.

"Elder Ru taking in a male disciple? Everyone knows she only accepts girls as disciples. Investigate that male disciple under Elder Ru. He must have found some secret about Elder Ru to have her not reject him."

"Hu Tao has recently been accepted into the Inner Court. All the factions in the Inner Court is trying to recruit the Fighting Maniac to their side or kill him before he becomes too strong of a threat." Chun told him.

"Oh, that so-called combat genius from the Outer Court? He's reached the 2nd realm already?"

"Both him and Manchu have."

"Is there anything we need to be wary of from these two or are you suggesting we ally with them?"

"Both Manchu and Hu Tao have impressive potential, I suggest we try and get on good terms with them rather than trying to kill them."

"Hmph. Afraid of a few commoners Chun? I expected more out of my brother. What can two commoners do against our clan? No matter how good their talent is, our clan is known for producing talented cultivators! Chun, you have to learn to see things for what they really are. Both Hu Tao and Manchu don't have the right mindset to become truly strong cultivators. Both are too arrogant for their own good. You can only climb up in this world with the right connections."

"Yes brother..." He replied weakly.

Chun may not understand it now but he will see that those two are nothing to worry about. One is a crazed beast that bares his fangs at everyone. The other has too much pride to truly get ahead in life. Neither have the brains to even see what kind of battlefield this sect truly is in the first place.

"You're dismissed." His fellow clan members left his home.

* * *

"How are our preparations?" Meihu asked.

Three of her strongest followers were bowed in front of her. Each one was dressed in extravagant robes that highlighted their alluring and attractive figures. These three young women were one of the most attractive ladies in the Outer Court and among the strongest as well. They all followed under Meihu's leadership. Her faction was called the Fearsome Garden and they were the dangerous Roses under her.

"All is going to plan my lady." Lam replied sweetly. Lam was an 8th stage Qi Gatherer.

"Good. By now those two should be worrying and trying to investigate our plan. Make sure none of the Petals are taken advantage of and continue to strengthen yourselves. The Treasured Plains is our biggest chance of finally getting ahead of those two."

"Yes, my lady. I will inform the Petals to stay alert and stay together if they go out." Ruo replied seriously. Ruo was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer like herself but weaker.

"What of the Head Elder's disciples? Any new information regarding them?"

"Shang Zhai is rumored to have fallen in love with a beast master. Xun Liuxian has reached the 9th stage. Xiao Hong and Liu Lan have reached the 8th stage. Gong Jun has entered the 9th stage and Tang Wuying has reached the 8th stage." Song relayed. Song was the 3rd 9th stage Qi Gatherer within the Fearsome Garden.

"Who is the beast master that he's fallen in love with? Can we somehow get her on our side?"

"Not much is known about her but I could find out a few things. Her name is Jing and she is an apprentice spellmaster, has a spirit beast at the 9th stage, and has recently joined the sect a couple months ago. She doesn't seem to have any connections with anyone but my investigation has just started. It's too early to decide if she has any allies."

"Recruit this Jing into our faction and treat her well. If she really does have Shang Zhai around her finger, then she'll be useful to keep around. We may even be able to get on good terms with Elder Chang's other disciples..."

"As you wish my lady." The Roses gracefully exited her home.

* * *

The loud moaning of the female disciple bouncing on his dick nearly distracted Jianyu from what he just heard from one of his men. He thrusted his hips up once and caused her to start convulsing on his dick. This shut her up and let him hear what the fuck his men wanted to tell him. In his large grand bedroom, laid multiple naked young women lying in exhaustion after being fucked senseless by him. He threw the dumb bitch that was on top of him off and stuck his thick long rod inside another woman.

"Ahn! Please Jianyu, I can't handle anymore! Ahn! Ahn! Ahn!" He looked at his men to tell them to continue telling him whatever the fuck they wanted to tell him.

"What are we going to do for the Treasured Plains?" Dong asked. Dong was one of his strongest men but also the dumbest. He was an 8th ranked Qi Gatherer and one of the most brutal fighters in his gang.

"We're going to do what we always do, you fucking idiot. Take what we want, kill what we want, and do what we want."

"With everyone hiding in their homes to prepare for the Plains, what should we do in the meantime Jianyu?" Wenling asked him. This slut was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer like him but weaker. She just broke into the 9th stage and was one sick twisted bitch.

"Go fucking do some tasks for the sect or break into some of those fuckers' homes if you're so bored. I don't care what you do just don't bring any trouble to the rest, you hear? No fucking with weaklings who got connections with people stronger than us and don't fuck with anyone stronger than me." The slut Jianyu was plowing just dropped unconscious from pleasure. He didn't even get to cum before she decided to stop moving like a dead fish.

"I will be training the others until it's time for the Treasured Plains to open. I'm not satisfied with how we're progressing as a group. The newbies don't seem to really understand what the Wolfeng Gang is really about. I'm gonna crack some skulls open till they get what we're about and get a little muscle on their bodies while I'm at it." Guotin said. Guotin was like a brother to Jianyu. He was his right-hand man and they've been together ever since they became cultivators. He was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer and almost equal to himself in power.

"It's fine to kill a few of them if they can't handle it. We don't need any weaklings in the gang." Jianyu grinned as one of the beautiful girls climbed on top of him and lowered themselves onto his hard cock.

"Don't worry Brother Jianyu. I'll turn them inside out just to see their insides squirming."

* * *

Jing was on her way back home after leaving Teacher Lang's place. In front of her was a bunch of girls that didn't look like they had good intentions but then again no one ever had good intentions in this sect from what she's seen. They were glaring at her like she was their worst enemy or something. She wasn't worried about her safety but was curious to why they decided to stop her of all people. She hesitantly walked forward with a weak demeanor.

"Hey ugly!" The possible leader called out to her. "I don't know what kind of trick you used to get Shang Zhai's attention but stay away from him or else!" She balled her fist.

"What do you mean?" Jing asked weakly, making the girls sneer.

"Shang Zhai is interested in you for some unknown reason. We're warning you to stay away from him. Shang doesn't like plain girls like you." She flared her 6th stage Qi Gatherer qi.

"But I didn't do anything..."

"And we're saying to make sure it stays that way! Don't even look in his direction or you can say goodbye to your peaceful life in the sect ugly."

"I'm sorry..."

Jing tried to walk past them without any conflict coming to pass but one of the girls stuck her leg out and caused Jing to trip and fall on the ground. She coughed from the dust on the ground getting in her mouth and all over her clothes. She heard the girls laughing at her while walking away.

"Can't believe we were worried about that pathetic girl."

"Maybe Zhai likes weak girls..."

"You think so?"

"Well it's not like she has anything else that could catch his attention. That disgusting color of skin and she looks like a boy from the front and the back!"

Jing heard a few more unsavory comments about her but they have traveled pretty far away from her by now. She got up and continued her way home covered in dirt. She could sense one of Shang Zhai's servants watching her. It took her a while to finally identify his servants but once she realized who they were, she made sure to be careful in her actions. If he wasn't watching her, she would've took out her leaf fan to clean herself off.

But that can wait till she gets home. A little bit of dust and falling on the ground isn't really much to handle. Jing walked back home looking as miserable as she could. Not too miserable but miserable enough that anyone could see that she wasn't having a good day. Of course, no one would care in the Golden Serpent Sect. Most of the disciples are selfish and wouldn't even think about helping someone unless they could benefit from the situation themselves. Jing wouldn't even put it past her fellow disciples to join in of bullying of another just because they saw someone weak being taken advantage of.

Jing made it back home and as soon as she locked her door, she pulled out her leaf fan and cleaned herself. Any dirt, dust, and anything of the like were erased from her body and she was as clean as she could ever be. It was now time to start a little fun and chaos throughout the sect. She grabbed her refined mask that only showed her eyeballs along with SCP-154. The mask effectively erased all traces of her. As far as she knows, the only possibility of someone spotting her is if she wants them to notice her while wearing the mask. It hides her cultivation realm as well now. After her fight with Hu Tao, she refined it again on very fine to hide all traces of qi as well. Even when she was using a martial art technique, her opponent wouldn't know how powerful it was until it hit them.

Jing waited until it was dark out before she went to set her plan into motion. She opened her door and started running into the Immortal Forest. None of the dangerous spirit beasts even noticed her passing by. Not even the spirit beasts known for their excellent hearing, vision, or smell could notice her. Jing made it to the middle area of the Immortal Forest. The area where spirit beasts of the Qi Consolidation stage and Core Preparation realm hunted. She started looking around for the perfect spot to place these two bracelets.

The ground beneath her feet started to grumble and shake at the footsteps of some powerful beast. A grin found itself on her face as she sensed the qi of that spirit beast. Perhaps this was a bit much of her to do but the Golden Serpent Sect disciples are all tough young men and women, aren't they? Surely, they can handle a little Golden Panda that's an 8th stage Qi Consolidator, right? It may be a mutant version of the Giant Panda spirit beast species but who cares? Just because it's highly attuned with yang qi and has a powerful body that most spirit beasts can't harm in the middle area doesn't mean the Golden Serpent disciples can't handle it. And because it's a mutant it can most likely fight with spirit beasts one stage above it without an issue. With her sect's disciples having courageous and stubborn personalities, taking these two bracelets from the cave where its golden cubs are laying won't be an issue.

After placing the bracelets in the Golden Panda's den, Jing returned back home without any issues. Neither the mother panda nor her cubs could sense her while she was near them. Now the only thing she has to do is spread the rumor of a powerful spirit weapon inhabiting the middle area. She'll have to give little hints that will pinpoint the location of the bracelets or those idiots will be dying for nothing. She wondered what rank SCP-154 would even classify as. Would it be an earth-rank, sky-rank, or heaven-ranked spirit weapon? If she ignored the downsides and only focused on the positives, she would say it would be around a high or peak sky-rank. Possible heaven-rank if they could get lucky with a complete chemical or physical change that is beneficial to cultivating.

"Well. Let's have a little enjoyment before the Plains begin next month."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alrighty. I want to use these antagonists i built up this chapter in a kind of meaningful way during the Treasured Plains arc? story? mini-arc? I haven't decided yet BUT IT WILL BE LONG ASS SHIT AND THERE WILL BE BIG CHANGES! I have to do that much with all this damn hyping i've been giving it, right?

Send me some ideas on how i should use these guys but its fine if you don't. I'll be able to think of something good for these 3 groups but its nice to see comments so. I always try and get you guys to comment something.

This was the second 18+ chapter i've written and am free to any critcism and comments on how i can improve them. I most likely won't have any chapter long sex scenes because this isn't really that type of story but sex will definitely pop up from time to time as this novel continues.

Next chapter on Friday we'll be back with the gang and whatever they're up to.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	39. Back With The Gang!

Ying stood on the square ranking ring with her opponent. Her sword was hung over her shoulder with one hand and her posture was casual. It was another Huan clan member she was facing off against. He glared at her and she smirked back. These weaklings from the Huan clan are a good source of contribution points, pills, and training. With the bounty on her head, there's no small number of opponents to challenge her in a ranking match.

The amount of resources she's gained thanks to fighting against them has improved her mood about these ranking matches. At first, she thought that this would just be a waste of time when she could be doing tasks to gain resources instead but this is a far better way of getting contribution points. Especially since she has a bounty on her head that seems to get higher every few weeks.

When she first started fighting in these ranking matches, she only thought about ending it quickly but as time went on, she started using it to train her martial art techniques. Even if it meant prolonging the fight, she would use the techniques till she felt like she understood how to use them better. If she was being honest, she actually got the idea from Lei Zhi and Bing. After watching those two battle in their ranking matches, she wondered why didn't they just crush their opponents from the start?

They both talked about how they should use the chance to improve their skills for the Treasured Plains. Bing said that it isn't often that he's able to train his martial art skills on an actual opponent that isn't just a spirit beast from the Immortal Forest. That made Ying think, she never really trained with her martial arts on humans either. They either died from a few swings or she nearly dies. The spirit beasts in the Immortal Forest also weren't the best to test skills with because of how simple they were.

The referee started the match and her opponent ran towards her with a normal blade. He was one stage above her at the 7th stage but as far as she knew, he was an unknown. If he was unknown that meant he wasn't special and had no fame. Ying didn't expect this battle with him to help her progress in any meaningful way. As he came close, he slashed down with his sword to split her in half from her shoulder to her waist.

Ying countered with her own sword slash and knocked the boy away with just pure strength. He was sent flying across the stage and had to stab his damaged sword into the ring just so he didn't fly out. His sword snapped in half but he managed to save himself from falling out of the ring.

"For someone at a higher stage than me, you sure are weak. I barely used any strength in that swing and you're already done." Ying said.

"I'll show you to mess with the Huan clan, you gorilla bitch!"

He ran towards her with just his hands. Ying scoffed at the disarmed disciple. She halfheartedly swung her sword, already picturing him headless and spilling blood all over the ring. Her sword's tip made a deep gash on his face but didn't take his head off like she expected. He had a bit more skill than she thought he did because he managed to place a talisman on her stomach during that exchange as well. She struck out with her foot and kicked him in the gut, making him roll away like a wheel.

The talisman was already lit. There was no point in trying to avoid the impossible. Ying used her cultivation technique and set herself ablaze to defend against the spell. The talisman exploded into a giant water bubble with her trapped inside. She was floating in the middle of the bubble and was forced to hold her breathe as her opponent was setting up a formation while she was trapped!

Ying could barely move her sword around. This guy wasn't like the others from the Huan clan. This was made specifically for her and her fire martial arts. Ying would have to give actual effort in this fight if she didn't want to rely on sword. Fire qi is weak to water qi and very rarely could a cultivator that practices fire arts best one that practices water arts. However, Ying didn't care about things like that.

With enough strength, nothing can stand in your way. If she wanted, she could handle this water spell with just her sword but this time, she decided not to rely on her weapon. Ying's body started heating up. The water around her started bubbling as she used her qi as fuel to increase the heat even more. Steam began to spread out across the arena as the bubble rapidly decreased in size.

Ying's qi was basically gone by the time she freed herself but she didn't need her qi to defeat her opponent. All she needed was one good hit. Spellmasters are known for not being able to take a hit. The steam surrounding the arena was a problem but it didn't take much to get rid of it. With a final wave of fire blasting out from her body, she was able to spot the weasel hiding inside a qi barrier. He must have not been able to handle the heat of her steam and fire.

Her qi was gone but her physical strength wasn't. She lifted her giant sword up and took off towards him with great speed. Ying's blade struck against the barrier like a mallet, ripples violently shook on the surface of the barrier and it started to crack.

"Impossible... Just what kind of spirit weapon could destroy my qi barrier!?"

Ying didn't even spare him a single word. She swung her sword down and destroyed the barrier with ease. The Huan clan member couldn't even try and resist against the mountain-like pressure her sword gave off as it was coming down. It crushed him like a bug and caved in the arena. The referee called the match after seeing her opponent still barely alive but only barely. She did use the back of her blade but only because he made her try just a bit harder than usual.

* * *

"Heh. I heard you've been giving our clan a bit of trouble have you Fatty?" Bing's opponent smashed his fist into his palm.

He was only a 4th stage Qi Gatherer. Bing had no idea why he was so cocky. He seemed no different from any other Huan clan member he's fought against. He should be cautious and careful in this upcoming battle then. They should know his prowess and strength by now after all these fights he's had against them. He must be a secret weapon, really talented, or an idiot. Bing was really hoping for the last one.

"That's incorrect. Your clan is the one that actually giving me trouble. I never really asked for all this conflict."

"Shut your ass Piggy! Get ready to die for causing my kin so much trouble!" He charged just as the referee started the match.

Bing guarded his punch with his shield. His strength wasn't anything to take note of. He was watching for anything strange about his opponent. His speed was good but not something to be wary of. Just what was it that he was so confident about? Watching the Huan clan members in the audience with sneers on their faces and laughing at him, only made him even more cautious against this guy.

Bing used his shield to block his aggressive attacks. He controlled his breathing and focused on the Art of Blocking style from his shield art. He was ready to flee at a moment's notice or strengthen himself for any attack. Will his secret ability be something he should run from or defend against? He could only find out when his opponent wanted to reveal it himself.

"Stop blocking and fight me coward! What kind of cultivator uses a shield as a weapon!? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Where are your balls?!" His opponent shouted while attacking him.

Bing didn't even give him a response as he continued his strategy of only defending. A punch towards his face? Raise his shield just before it connects. A kick aiming for his privates? Lower his shield and block the kick. A grab towards his face while his shield is still blocking the kick? A carefully timed sway of the head and a jump back for some distance.

"You're pissing me off Piggy! Why won't you just fight me and stop running!? Do you think this is a joke? A game? This is a fight! Treat it like one or just surrender already!" His qi flared up.

Bing knew exactly what he was doing right now. He isn't an idiot. Any normal person wouldn't fall for the taunts of their opponents. That's how you fall into their pace and lose your advantage. But maybe he could use this to his advantage...

"Fine. You want me to fight. I'll give you a fight!" Bing's body started to shape into muscle.

His fat was being dispersed throughout his body and strengthened with his qi. The flesh on the sides of his ribs were shifting and pulsating before two additional muscled arms popped out. The air around him turned dangerous. A simple flick of the wrist seemed to cause the air around him to follow in its movements. It looked like if he wanted, he could punch the air and shoot out a fist made of air that could do as much damage as a normal punch.

"Hahaha! That's what I'm talking about! Now come on! Fight me Tubby!"

"Swift Devil!" Bing shot off like an unstoppable arrow.

His opponent used his fists and moved his hands in a mystical way in front of him. Inside the strange circle made from his movements came a bright orange light made of qi. The light was shaped into the characters for the word Counter. A huge grin was on his face as Bing headed straight towards the strange technique. So, this was what he was counting on and from the sounds of the people in the stands, this had to be the special move they were hoping to take him out. It's a shame that their hopes would be dashed.

Bing stopped himself just before he made contact with the technique. It was nearly going to scrape the tip of his nose and the amount qi coming off this technique was enough to make him want to pee his pants. It seemed like his opponent couldn't move during this skill and was actually hurting him. Blood dripped down his nose, eyes, and mouth as he kept the move going for some strange reason. Could it be that he couldn't drop this technique without suffering some terrible backlash?

"Sorry to disappoint you all but it was a bait. I wanted to see what your trick was to deal with me. That's why I made it look like I was going to attack you." Bing could see the fury in his eyes. That glare is in the top 10 glares he's seen so far in these ranking matches.

Bing calmly walked around the frozen boy and cupped his face with his muscled hands.

"You seem kind of dangerous. I don't know what kind of special ability that was but seeing how so many of your allies were counting on you to defeat me makes me scared for my future. Plus, those eyes of yours look like the type I'm most afraid of. The type of eyes that would stoop to any lengths just for revenge."

"You...coward... you won't get away with this..." He spat blood through his teeth as the veins all over his body was completely visible.

Crack!

The beloved Huan clan member's head was twisted 180 degrees behind him. The sound of the bones in his neck snapping was all too audible for anyone nearby. His orange technique shattered and his body dropped to the ground with his eyes open wide. Seeing one of their own dying right in front of them sent the Huan clan into an uncontrollable rage. The referee glared at the Huan clan from the ring, daring them to break the rules of the sect and intrude in the middle of a ranking match. But he was nothing but a simple 6th stage Qi Gatherer. On the stands were Huan clan members of various stages with not too few being above the 6th stage.

"Would you mind calling the match Referee?" Bing asked as he took out a movement talisman from his robe.

He nodded and called the match in Bing's favor. Once the match was officially over, they pounced like wild animals. Bing already lit his talisman once the referee made him the winner and just before those savages could get their hands on him, he was already more than 50 steps away. Now he would have to be much more careful in the upcoming few weeks. Buy a few more Lesser Escape talismans, cultivate to increase his stage, and plan his movements to avoid being caught in a bad situation. He just had to last until it was time for the Treasured Plains to open. Once he could get his hands on the treasures inside, dealing with the Huan clan one by one won't be much of an issue. It would take some time but their leader is only in the Qi Consolidation stage. With enough resources, getting there shouldn't take too long, even with his average talent. If worse comes to worst, he can always rely on his freakish teammates to help him.

* * *

Hu Tao chuckled as he stood over the body of another weakling trying to recruit him into their little political group. With his throat torn out from Hu Tao's final attack, he breathed his final gurgle. With only being one stage above himself, he still wasn't good enough to make Hu Tao go all out. How could a weakling like this ever expect to make him follow his lead? Now a monster like that bitch Jing was the only leader worthy of following. Even now with him being 1 full stage above her, he still couldn't find himself any closer to making that sadistic freak fight with her life on the line. It seemed like as time went on, she only got stronger and stronger.

'Good! Anything less than that would be boring! I will defeat that strong bitch one day and when it comes, I will make sure it's the greatest fight that I could ever experience! I wouldn't even mind if we both died by the end of it!'

* * *

Lei Zhi was fishing outside his home into the small pond full of lively fishes. His current thoughts were on what type of cultivator should he strive to become in the future. Although he knew that he couldn't control what fate had in store for him, he could still ponder. Becoming a body cultivator like Bing and Yue didn't seem like it would fit best with his current martial arts. That strength would only be a small boost to him. Becoming a qi cultivator could be a small gain or a large gain depending on what type of qi he would have the fortune of gaining. Becoming a balanced type like Hu Tao wasn't possibly with his talent. Hu Tao had fearsome strength and terrifying qi techniques with neither of them lacking in the slightest.

Perhaps he should become a lesser known type of cultivator. With the fishing rod Jing gave him, it was hard not to think of becoming a Beast Master. She herself claims to be a beast master along with a Spellmaster. Lei Zhi had no luck with those occupations. Becoming a pill refiner, blacksmith, or a spellmaster was impossible for him. He had no talent for any of those fields and could only produce trash. Even in his youth before he was blind, he attempted to join each one of those occupations and was kicked out not even 2 weeks before joining.

He would have to think of something to explain how he has so many different type of beasts eventually. For now though, he'll keep his mouth shut and let those curious simply wonder. He has no reason to tell anyone of his abilities and his ways. Lei Zhi might be considered a hopeful kind naïve fool but he didn't make it to this age on luck alone!

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just another chapter about the gang training for the Plains. Ying being affected by her new allies and learning from people weaker than her. A cool scene for Bing that i believe helps gets into his psyche a bit more and helps understand what kind of person he is. Hu Tao being the fighting maniac he's known as. And Lei Zhi being the peaceful middle-aged man he is.

Don't have much to say about this chapter, it was pretty chill and calm.

Next chapter doe is where things get a little bit exciting. We'll be back with Jing in the Immortal Forest seeing just how much chaos can be raised over a single sky-ranked spirit weapon.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	40. Having a Little Fun!

Jing watched as the Inner Court disciples stampeded through the Immortal Forest. It seems the rumor has finally circulated in the Inner Court and now they were on their way to obtain the mysterious sky-ranked spirit weapon. The value of sky-ranked spirit weapons was a lot more valuable than she thought. It only took about an hour and some before they started running out of the sect like a bunch of greedy hyenas.

She was wearing her refined mask that hid her presence and standing on the trees to get a good look at all the high ranked cultivators below her. She may even find someone worthy enough to join her faction amongst the Inner Court. She has only searched within the Outer Court for members. But that was all in due time, for now she'll just remember any interesting characters or abilities. Along with taking note of the factions and strong cultivators from the Inner Court.

Jing hopped from tree branch to tree branch, following the herd of disciples below her without anyone noticing her. The fighting has yet to start between the disciples but Jing has no doubt that it'll happen sooner rather than later. This many youthful and greedy cultivators in one place? A fight starting out is a natural outcome from such a large group of potential immortals. A few might work together to find SCP-154 but those alliances will only be short-term at best. Once someone actually gets SCP-154, Jing is pretty sure it's going to turn into hell within moments.

"LOOK OUT! A STONE KOALA IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!"

"IT'S AT THE 4TH STAGE OF THE QI CONSOLIDATING REALM!"

Stone Koala's were very territorial spirit beasts. If interrupted during their 22-hour naps, they will chase whoever awoken them from their sleep and kill them no matter what. Unless they are killed first but getting past their rock-like skin and terrifying strength is no small task. They are also known for not being afraid of death unlike most spirit beasts. They don't even mind dying as long as they managed to kill the one who has awakened them.

"Yi You! We have to run! We can't waste our energy fighting this thing before we even found the bracelets!"

"Okay brother! Let's go! We can't let them get ahead of-" His words were stopped in his throat as the stone koala grabbed him out of the air.

He screamed to his brother for help and his brother paused. He looked back at his captured sibling and then at the others catching ground up ahead. They were both 2nd stage Qi Consolidators. The two brothers locked eyes, one pleading with tears pooling around his eyes and the other with hesitation. He turned around and ran. Seeing his very own brother not even try to help him escape from this beast destroyed him. His eyes turned into despair and blackness.

Jing couldn't help but laugh at the selfishness and cruelty shown only a few moments into this event. That delicious look of hopelessness before he was crushed in the hands of the stone koala made Jing's heart jump with amusement. Seeing that angry little tree bear going around crushing disciples like ants was oh so enjoyable. The cries, tears, and shouts for help as it tears them apart, Jing regretted not doing something like this sooner!

She swung her legs back and forth in the air like a little girl on the tree branch high above. She could've watched this little massacre go on for hours but someone put an end to her fun. A long-haired handsome young boy running by saw the good rampage the stone koala was doing and sliced it in half from the torso. Jing focused in on this boy. He was 2 stages below the spirit beast but managed to kill it without even trying. The average cultivator couldn't pull off an achievement like that.

If a spirit beast and a cultivator were at the same stage, 7 times out of 10, the spirit beast would take the victory if they fought. The way spirit beasts cultivate is inherently different from cultivators. They are able to cultivator their qi and bodies at the same time without lacking in either group. Unless that cultivator is highly talented and able to cultivate both their body and qi, the spirit beast should defeat the cultivator in most situations.

"Who was that?! How did he kill the Stone Koala with a single swing of his blade?!"

"I don't know who that is! I've never seen him in the Inner Court before!"

"There's no way someone that powerful could stay lowkey with his strength!"

"It doesn't matter who he is! Get going! We have to find that spirit weapon before the top rankers come!"

Jing casually hopped from tree to tree, following behind the unknown talented boy and his ally. They were the same rank but the girl didn't seem as interesting as the boy. The boy was taking care to avoid any dangerous beasts in front of them and constantly watching his surroundings. The girl looked like she was following the boy without any care in the world.

"Brother Kun Lao, are you sure it's safe to trust that rumor?"

"With so many disciples out here, it has to be real. If it wasn't the sect elders would definitely intervene to prevent a bunch of us disciples from killing ourselves for no reason."

"You're so smart Brother Lao!"

"Thanks Sister Dai Yu. Now let's hurry up on ahead. It was said to be in the near the center of the middle area."

Jing moved on ahead of the couple. She could hear some conflict and was more interested in finding more notable disciples within the Inner Court. Up ahead a group of disciples could be seen fighting against one another. She sat atop a branch and looked down on the two fighting groups.

"Nightwing clan! Who allowed you to be so bold to ambush us?! Do you not fear death?!"

"From a clan of cowardly assassins like you, that threat doesn't hold up much! My Daybright clan will exterminate you for our ancestors' honor!"

"Honor my ass! Who put you up to this?! Was it the Spider Mistress?!"

"Keep guessing you honor-less dogs. We'll never tell you. Now die!" The two groups went at each other again.

A group battle from the Inner Court. While it was interesting, it wasn't suspenseful enough. These fools weren't fighting for the sky-ranked weapon, they were just killing each other for a worthless reason that has nothing to do with SCP-154. That wasn't very interesting. Jing looked around in her surroundings for something that could spice this little fight up. To her left was a camouflaged Horned Serpent napping. She leapt from her tree branch and landed next to the invisible snake. It was at the 3rd stage as a Qi Consolidator. Jing used her whip and wrapped it around the neck of the spirit beast. She then threw it across the forest into the middle of the battling factions.

A few members of the Nightwing clan and Daybright clan may have gotten crushed to death from the large size of the snake but oh well. Maybe it'll get their adrenaline going a bit faster.

"Everyone, retreat! We will recover our strength and forces to exterminate the Daybright clan in the future!" Nightwing clan leader shouted.

'Hey, I just got that worm. It wouldn't be much fun if you ran before even trying to survive against it.' Jing turned off the properties of her mask and appeared in front of the fleeing cultivators.

"Who are you?!"

"Just a passing cultivator..." Jing used her auxiliary art that she gained from SCP-914.

It was called Idliragijenget's Blessing, this martial art allowed her to generate water through qi and control it freely. Jing created a whip of water and lashed it out in a horizontal swing. The speed and surprising length of the whip managed to knock all the Nightwing cultivators back towards the Horned Serpent. The snake smashed a few of them into the ground with its tail. It was unknown if they were still alive or not but the battle has now turned into a fight to survive for all parties!

The Daybright clan couldn't handle both the Nightwing clan and the Horned Serpent at the same time. They also noticed Jing and saw how she was keeping the Nightwing clan members from escaping. Jing wondered what was he planning. Did he think that she was on his side or just a third party with unknown intentions?

"Kill the Nightwing cultivators! Ignore the beast the best you can!"

"Do not let yourselves be killed by our enemies! Survive and make sure to get strong enough to pay back for this attack!"

Now this was what she wanted to see. Swords stabbing through the backs of others, the snake swallowing humans in a confused rage, opportunistic killings, and futile attempts of fleeing thanks to her whip. Anyone trying to run away was captured by her water whip and thrown towards the Horned Serpent. The serpent swallowed them in a quick lunge whenever she threw a disciple in the air. It was almost as if she was its master and was feeding it treats for being a good snake.

"KILL THAT GIRL! SHE'S THE ONE CONTROLLING THIS SPIRIT BEAST!"

"IDENTIFY YOURSELF BEAST MASTER!"

They charged her together. Jing smiled behind her mask. She was going to have some fun with these Qi Consolidators. It's been a while since she could have a little innocent fun. Jing will have to take care not to break them too soon. She might scare away the others from attacking her. Jing fully unleashed her qi. Her 3rd stage Qi Gatherer qi that was enhanced monstrously thanks to her cultivation technique given by SCP-914. Taking on a few cultivators 1 realm above her won't be much. If it was 2 or 3 realms above her then she'd be unsure. She hasn't gained any information about anyone in those realms yet nor has seen their full strength.

A cultivator slashed towards her with his sword. Jing struck against his blade with her water whip and cleaved right through the steel weapon and took off some of his hair. The shocked look in his eyes as his life was almost snatched from him within seconds made Jing laugh in amusement. She wrapped her whip around his throat and brought him to the ground underneath her foot. She stomped on the back of his head with the heel of her foot and grinded his head into the dirt just to add a little more humiliation.

Another cultivator tried to stab through her chest with his sword while his ally came at her side with his fists. Jing sliced off the sword user's arm and without even stopping her whip's movements, grabbed the bare-handed cultivator and pulled him towards her in an arc. The sword cultivator screamed and dropped to his knees. The fist user flew above her and Jing struck with a powerful kick to his stomach. He spat out blood onto her mask from the kick and was roughly dropped to the ground below Jing.

Jing stomped on his elbow and broke it, causing him to cry out miserably. Seeing her ruthless nature, the other disciples paused in their movements to try and kill her. This wasn't the smartest of plans as there was still a raging 3rd stage Qi Consolidator spirit beast behind them. Another cultivator of the two groups was smashed underneath the tail of the snake. Jing was taking her time slowly crushing the bones of the fist user and hearing him pathetically cry out for help.

She could feel her erect nipples brushing against her robes.

"Come on, scream louder boy. If you yell hard enough, maybe I'll consider keeping you alive after this. Go on scream for me." Jing shattered his femur with a sickening crunch of her foot.

The scream from that break was by far the juiciest one. Jing's panties were a little damp after hearing it. She was sure that anyone within 50 steps around them heard that scream, it even echoed out. It was too bad that he fainted afterwards but she still had two more bugs to play with. One teetering between consciousness and one trying to free himself from the dirt.

She decided to choose the livelier one. She helped him out of the ground by creating a bubble around his head filled with water. Water began filling up his nose and mouth. His eyes were wide open in terror as he clutched his throat trying to breathe. The water was filling his lungs, he should be feeling a terrible burning pain on the inside of his body but it would be boring if she just made him drown to death. No matter how painful it was, it was too simple. To make it a bit more arousing for her, she grabbed a nearby stick and covered it with her qi.

She started making light cuts all over his body as water filled his lungs. He could only gargle and put on a hopeless expression as the lights in his eyes were going dim. Jing popped the bubble and he started to violently puke out all the water from his system.

"Make sure to take a deep breathe this time." Jing told him.

He looked at her with terror in his eyes after catching on to what she meant. She wasn't done with him just yet. He was going to have to go through that horrible experience again and he couldn't do anything about it. She was stronger than him! He desperately tried to run away like a dog but Jing stabbed her stick into his leg, going completely through his leg and the ground below it. He screamed out for help. Anyone to help him or kill him before Jing could get to him. Jing couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the adorable little bug.

"No one here is capable of saving you from me..." Jing rubbed his face with her foot as water slowly headed towards his head.

* * *

"Do you really believe you can kill me Li Qiang?" Wan Qing asked.

"Heh, I'm not here to kill you." He waved his hand. "I'm just here to make sure you don't get the spirit weapon before Ping." Li Qiang said casually.

"A sissy like you won't be much of a problem. You may be talented but you are also alone. Something a freak like you deserves." Shan spat.

"I am not ashamed of what I chose to be, nor am I willing to take insults upon my character lightly. Prepare to die for your disrespect Shan." Qing Wang pointed her sword towards Shan.

"You think I'm scared of some freak who thinks he's a girl? No wonder they didn't let you in the Blossoming Water Palace sect, you're crazy too!" Shan viciously said.

Four butterfly wings made of qi shot out from Wang's back. She flew directly in front of Shan with her sword ready to slice his head off. Shan was shocked by her speed but managed to defend with his spirit weapon in time. His gauntlets blocked Wang's attack and Li Qiang moved in to attack her.

She clicked her tongue and flew away to get some distance. Handling these two won't be impossible but with their fighting styles they'll definitely be able to delay her long enough for the other top rankers to get the sky-ranked spirit weapon. Her pride didn't allow her to flee either, especially after Shan's insults. His fate is already set in stone to be killed by her.

Qing's long flowing black hair fell past her neck. It was the type of hair that couldn't have been taken care of without meticulous care. Qing was the type of cultivator that could be recognized in a large crowd due to her handsome appearance. Her lean and slender body with flawless jade skin only made her stick out more in the Inner Court. She had no breasts but was blessed with curvy hips and a voluptuous behind. Seeing Wan Qing from behind, many would expect her to be a girl with a figure like hers. But just because she wasn't born as a female, people think it is fine to disrespect her, look down on her, and mistreat her because of her choice to identify herself as a woman despite being born a male.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finally back with Jing! Okay i've realized how i could add more chapters with Jing but the thing is, it will have to be chapters similar to these few chapters with SCP-154 or chapters with her hiding her true strength and playing along with others. I know people don't like the latter but, it's kind of hard giving this op batch something to do without just exploding the story into something crazy, messy, and on a fast track to ending. I still have a bunch of stuff I want to do with this story before planning to end it because i've read so many Xianxias and this is my first time writing one of my own. I do plan to write another Xianxia-type story but i don't know when i'll do that.

Who do you guys think will get SCP-154? A random cultivator? A future member of Jing's group? An enemy? A person of fate? (Main Character)

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	41. Hu Tao's Hunt!

"This crazy bastard! He isn't even interested in getting the sky-ranked weapon! He's just here to pick us off!" A badly injured cultivator complained.

"Defend the Miss with your life!"

"Hu Tao! I'm going to rip your heart out of your chest and feed it to dogs for daring to come after our Miss!"

Hu Tao only laughed in response to that threat or was it a promise? Hu Tao was also interested in that little rumor that had most of the Inner Court disciples running off like lemmings. Not for the spirit weapon itself but to enjoy himself with a few fights that he normally wouldn't get the chance to have. Some of the top rankers that have been hiding like a bunch of scheming weasels sent some of their best men to get these bracelets. Hu Tao wanted a piece of these guys for himself but he's been a bit caught up with fighting anyone that he thought was interesting.

Like the girl running up ahead. She was at the 4th stage as a Qi Consolidator but had 3 servants all at the 3rd stage? Something smelled fishy and Hu Tao loved that tantalizing smell most of all! If things didn't add up right that meant someone had something to hide and when people have things to hide, they always try and protect it when someone comes sniffing around. That someone is Hu Tao and he expects to find out something very interesting about that pig-tailed brat after catching up to her.

But first, he has to deal with these three weaklings in front of him on the verge of death. He called them weak because he hasn't even had to use his full strength to overwhelm them. For a bunch of guards, they sure don't have any experience in fighting. What a letdown honestly, he was hoping that they could manage to get a second wind or break out some dangerous technique to try and take him down but nope. His hopes for a good fight from these three was dashed the moment he nearly killed the first one trying to take out the pig-tailed blondie.

"Hey who is that dumb blonde you're working for? Is she some sheltered princess from some hidden clan?"

"We'll never tell you anything!" He spat.

"Hey come on Weakling #1, I'm just curious you know? It's not every day you can catch something like this. If you don't tell me, I might just kill her by accident and never find out." Hu Tao grinned.

"Heh! We're not the only guards of the Miss! Even if we die, the young miss will still be fine!"

"You may be a talented fighter Hu Tao but you're only at the 2nd stage of the Qi Consolidation realm! Know your limits you wild monkey!"

Oh... Is that so? So, there's an actual fighter waiting for him and he was just wasting his time with these fucking losers? It was good to know there was a real fight waiting for him but he didn't want to find out this way. He should've killed these guys sooner and saved the surprise for himself. It would've been more exciting that way.

The three weaklings ran at him together with their swords. Since Hu Tao understood there was a real fight somewhere else, he didn't play around with these weaklings anymore. His chain moved like a flash of light and his iron ball was sent flying towards the three. It was lodged into the ribs of the first servant and his body was sent crashing into the other two, piling them in a heap on the ground. Hu Tao jumped with a mighty leap and stomped down with a single foot on all three with his terrible strength!

They didn't even have time to scream before dying from his powerful stomp. The killing force was sent all the way from the top weakling down to the bottom weakling in the pile. Hu Tao didn't even dignify their death with respect as he knocked the pile of weaklings down and left them as corpses laying in the dirt. Weaklings don't deserve something like a proper death.

To catch up with that blondie, Hu Tao would have to run at full speed. He lowered his center of gravity and crouched down low like an animal. He took off like a starving wolf chasing his prey. Prey that he couldn't afford to miss out on. His surroundings have turned into nothing but a blur at his current speed. As long as that pig-tails was still moving at the same speed as she was earlier, Hu Tao would be able to catch up in no time.

Hu Tao weaved through the forest easily, running on all fours with the agility better than a beast's. He ignored all the spirit beasts near him in favor of his chosen prey. That blonde midget won't escape him. He can already see her figure far ahead still moving slow as all shit. Hu Tao looked around for any signs of the hidden guard but couldn't find anything. Those shitheads better not have lied to him.

He was in a good enough distance from this far away. As long as she was in his sight, he could reach her with a good leap. Hu Tao surged his qi through his entire lower body and leapt towards the fleeing princess. He stretched out his hand, ready to slam her head into the dirt. She turned around just as he was about to grab her and he saw her eyes widen in fear. Where the hell was his fight at? Is that scumbag taking him lightly?!

Hu Tao caught the blonde by the throat and slide her across the ground. He stood over her with his hand clutched around her throat. She tried to speak but Hu Tao's grip was tight enough to stop her from saying anything. Whatever she needed to say wasn't important, he had a fight to find. Her face was turning purple and her hand was gripped around his arm trying to remove it. It looks like she was a qi cultivator because her body was weak as shit. Hu Tao looked around excitedly, waiting for the appearance of this mysterious secret guard. If he didn't come out any time soon this little fairy's going to be passing on to the afterlife! The whites of her eyes were slowly rising into the back of her head. The strength in her arm was weakening.

What a shitty secret guard. Maybe this is his fucking fetish, watching his Lady being choked to death before coming to the rescue as she's about to fucking die. Trying to be a savior when he's a sick pervert? What a fucking riot this guy is. Just to spite the creepy bastard, Hu Tao released his grip off the midget's neck and posed to strike right through her chest with his hand. She violently hacked and coughed to try and get air into her lungs. Not even aware of her impending death coming from above.

Hu Tao's hand struck down with merciless intent. He fully intended to kill this girl with this strike. No hesitation could be seen anywhere in his attack. Killing intent fully blasted into the surroundings.

"And here I was trying to keep a low profile..." A voice suddenly appeared above Hu Tao and the chick. His foot was stopping Hu Tao's deadly hand. "But I can't just watch a woman die in front of me in good faith. Especially to a villain like this."

"Took you long enough, freak." Hu Tao grabbed the guard's foot and slung him across the forest clearing.

He flipped through the air and gently landed back on the ground. Hu Tao stood up and grinned at his opponent. They both vanished from their original places and met halfway in the clearing. Hu Tao clawed towards the guard's throat and watched as he easily dodged his attack. Hu Tao wasn't going to stop just because he missed one attack. He kept on the offensive and unleashed attack after attack.

His movements were unpredictable and wild like an animal's. Attacking in ways that no normal humans could predict and react to. But this guy was able to handle his attacks well enough! It's been around 30 seconds since their fight began and Hu Tao has yet to even scratch his clothes. Hu Tao's grin widened even further. It looks like he didn't waste his time messing around with Pigtails.

Hu Tao changed up his fighting style. Instead of relying on his self-taught fighting style, he decided to use his recently gained Flowing Palms of Judgement. He held out both of his palms and led with his left leg forward. His twisted lust for fighting was growing even larger than it was earlier. He was excited to get some real experience with this palm art and seeing how this pervert would handle it.

"It looks like you finally decided to become serious. Too bad, you still won't be able to land a single hit on me." He mocked.

Hu Tao couldn't sense his cultivation realm but knew he wasn't that far ahead of him. If it was, he wouldn't be dodging Hu Tao's attacks right now and would've finished him off earlier. Only a sneaky pussy bastard would waste time dodging when he could be ending a fight immediately. And Hu Tao plans on making him reveal all of his hidden cards. He still hasn't even warmed up yet!

Hu Tao thrusted his palm towards the chest of the bodyguard after sliding into his space. The scared bastard dodged again but Hu Tao followed up his palm strike with another and then another and continued to lead each palm strike into another attack. The two of them moved from one end of the clearing to the other. One on a constant assault and the other dodging as much as he could. Hu Tao's attacks were only getting faster and stronger the more strikes he got out.

Flowing Palms of Judgement is a fist martial art centered around a water-like defense and a non-stop rapid flowing series of strikes. The defense being based on water's ever reactive nature and the attack side of the martial art being based on an unstoppable raging river or the endless powerful crashing of a waterfall. If mastered to its full potential, the user of this martial art can be said to be undefeatable in hand-to-hand combat.

Hu Tao's already reached the intermediate realm for this sky-ranked fist art in just a few weeks! If that doesn't speak of how monstrous his talent is, then the way he's slowly gaining even further understanding of the martial art as he's in a heated battle should! The mysterious guard was finally being pressured by Hu Tao's palms! He could no longer leisurely avoid his attacks and now had to actively deflect them and move away them!

"Just who in the world are you...? I don't remember someone as talented as you within the sect..." The guard muttered.

"Heh... Now that's a surprise. Someone that actually doesn't know me! Don't worry you sick fuck, I'll tell you who I am after I bury you six feet under!" Hu Tao landed a powerful blow upon his chest and launched him flying into one of the giant trees within the Immortal Forest.

Hu Tao watched as the guard crashed into the tree, back first, and then dropped to the ground. Blood dripped down his mouth and he looked as if he had trouble breathing.

"Don't fucking tell me you're done after one hit." Hu Tao cursed.

"You're much stronger than I expected... I can't remember anyone named Hu Tao... Just what is going on? The only ones stronger than me right now should be the top 10 rankers in the Inner Court, the core disciples, and the elder's disciples." He muttered again.

"Are you fucking crazy in the head asshole? Of course, I'm stronger than a pussy shit like you. Hiding your cultivation rank, running around like a scared bitch, and not even having the balls to throw a single punch. Not even Shield boy is that much of a pussy."

"I can't face him without using it but it's too early to reveal something like that. I'll have to escape..." He muttered a third time, like Hu Tao couldn't fucking hear him mumbling!

"OI! YOU INSANE BASTARD, DON'T YOU DARE THINK ABOUT RUNNING AWAY!" Hu Tao yelled.

He looked around for the Pigtails and saw her hiding behind a tree. He disappeared, intent on capturing her and using her to force the guard into fighting him but he was outsped by the guard.

The guard's body briefly flashed with golden flames as he headed towards her first. Hu Tao wouldn't accept another fight slipping through his fingers. Those flames aren't just any flames. Just by being near the asshole, he feels like his blood was evaporating from the heat. How the hell was that midget bitch fine? Whatever, it didn't matter.

Hu Tao tapped into the anomalous power hidden within his chains. His body, mind, and soul became one with lightning and thunder. Red lightning raced across his body and his pupils turned into arcing lightning bolts. The chains that previously covered his body was now electricity wrapped around him along with the large metal ball. His hair was spiked up and rising straight up in the air.

The two clashed just in front of the young miss and the force of their combined blow managed to send the young miss flying away. Hu Tao and the guard were sent sliding back nearly an equal distance away from each other after comparing strengths with the guard being moved back an extra step. Hu Tao smirked and prepared to continue their battle. The guard was experiencing a myriad of different emotions. Anger, confusion, disbelief, and shock all in one.

"That's a phoenix's flame isn't it?" Hu Tao suddenly asked.

The guard's glare turned ice cold. His killing intent was no longer being reigned in anymore and it was washing over Hu Tao like a tsunami's wave. Hu Tao's instincts were telling him to flee immediately. If the hairs all over his body weren't raised before they sure are now after feeling that. But Hu Tao wasn't a mindless beast, his instincts were nothing more than just a tool to help him in battle. Not something that had complete control over his being.

This guard was about as young as him but that killing intent was about the same as an Earthly Immortal cultivator. That was an exaggeration but Hu Tao's instincts never led him wrong before. That's exactly what he felt like he was up against but he knew that the guard's strength was around a 5th or 6th stage Qi Consolidator with those phoenix flames active.

"Looks like I'll have to kill you now..." He promised.

"Don't hold back or I'm running my mouth to everyone about your legendary flames. I know your types, hiding your strength until you're forced to reveal everything you have and shocking everyone. That bastard Manchu is the exact same." Hu Tao chuckled.

Phoenix fuck appeared behind Hu Tao and tried to chop his neck off from his shoulders. Hu Tao casually leaned his head back and stuck out his tongue to taunt him as he dodged the chop. With a surprising backflip from that position, he kicked Phoenix away. He could hear the snap of his wrist as he slid away from him. With an amused grin on his face, Hu Tao turned around to see Phoenix bastard's arm fixing itself with a few audible cracks.

"You're faster than me? How?! The Phoenix's flame might not be known for its speed but it isn't any less than the other mythical spirit beasts!"

"Fuck if I know retard!" Hu Tao stuck his middle finger up. "That crazy bitch gave me this as a gift for becoming her slave." Hu Tao appeared in front of Phoenix's chest and attempted to elbow a hole straight through his chest.

Phoenix tried to explode the area around him in a blazing inferno but Hu Tao's lightning cut right through it. The flames couldn't even come close to penetrating the lightning streaks zipping across Hu Tao's body. Phoenix seemed to not even notice the hole in his chest with his hear visibly shown from the outside as he tried to grab onto Hu Tao. Hu Tao could see the hole he just made in his opponent recovering rapidly. His flesh quickly trying to heal and cover his unprotected heart.

'This bastard's trying to trap me by using his body as bait! He knows he can heal and is trying to use that to kill me! Don't even count on it you fucking idiot.'

Hu Tao fully embraced the lightning flowing within his body. His speed was increased to a whole new level as he tore Phoenix apart from all around. Appearing behind him in a flash of lightning and ripping off his arm, vanishing back in front of him and ripping his leg off, making him fall to the ground, and digging inside his intestines with his claws and ripping them out like a savage animal.

Blood drenched his hands and entire body. Phoenix's healing was recovering much slowly now. Did it work with how much qi he had or did it run on another source of energy...? Well, it doesn't matter. The bastard did let him have some fun even though he tried to skip out in the middle of it. He'll give the sick asshole a proper death.

Hu Tao stuck his hand inside the chest of the guard and grasped his slow beating heart in his fingers. He increased the pressure he had on the man's heart and was close to crushing it. In a few moments he would be no more and Hu Tao would be on his way to finding more fights during this little weapon hunt. His grip was suddenly loosened as a foot came flying in his face and launching him through multiple trees. His body hung limp over the edge of a cracked tree. His lightning was gone and turned back into regular chains.

A new figure stood over the guard's slowly healing body. Along with that figure was a familiar girl, Pigtails.

"Huh... I tried to kill you with that strike. Consider it your luck that you're still alive. If you can consider that even alive..." The new person said about Hu Tao.

"Big Brother... He saved my life. Please save him!" Pigtails hung onto his arm.

"Tch. Only because you asked alright? Don't think about making this guy your boyfriend or anything ok? I'll have to kill him first before giving my sister to any man."

She blushed heavily.

"Shut up! Hurry up and help him before it's too late!"

"Yeah yeah yeah... I'm at the 9th stage of the Qi Consolidation realm. If I couldn't even save a brat at the 2nd stage, I would be better off killing myself with a block of tofu."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Looks like Hu Tao can't help himself from being a total annoyance! I think this is the second time i've revealed the secret power hidden in Hu Tao's chain and metal ball. The first time was when he fought against Xiurong.

What do you guys think of the guard!? If you didn't notice he's also a person of fate but what kind of person of fate is he? What kind of cheat do you guys think he has and what does the future have in store for Hu Tao who keeps provoking these young men!?

Also, How horribly do you guys think Hu Tao just got injured?

Next chapter on Monday we'll be with Jing and a certain someone else already shown in the previous chapters. ;)

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	42. A New Member Of The Group!

Jing stood over the nearly dead body of Hu Tao. His neck was snapped but he was still alive and breathing. He just couldn't move an inch and probably was in terrible pain right now. Jing locked eyes with Hu Tao before gently wrapping her hands around his bent neck and head.

CRACK!

"YOU FUCKING CRAZY BITCH! THAT HURTS LIKE HELL!" Hu Tao screamed as he shot up.

Jing casually whipped her foot into Hu Tao's face, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Mind explaining what happened to you?" Jing asked, not caring for his complaints or woes in the slightest.

"I got fucking snuck up on by a siscon at the 9th stage." Hu Tao whined while rubbing his cheek.

"Qi Consolidator?"

"Yea."

"Hmm. I'll forgive you for nearly dying on me. You aren't powerful enough yet to take on someone of that level right now. Did you catch his name or any important information about him besides his cultivation stage?"

"I know he's Pigtail's brother."

"Pigtails?"

"Some weak bitch."

"You're literally useless." Jing facepalmed.

"Hey, what do I care about the names of a few fucking weaklings?! If they can't satisfy me in a fight then they aren't worth remembering!"

"I will need you to change that mindset from this day going forth. Information is power and willful ignorance is a curse. After all the work I put in taking you in, don't make me get rid of you just as soon." Jing's qi briefly burst out and hung over Hu Tao's neck like an executioner's blade.

Hu Tao understood just how serious she was and couldn't help himself from smiling in the face of death. That mysterious strength that doesn't match her physique or looks at all. Hu Tao normally doesn't give a shit about the backgrounds of people but Jing was just too much of a fucking strange thing! Behind that mask of hers she looked like a fucking baby but can twist that face into a wicked immortal queen on the flip of a dime! Just who the hell is she and where has she been all his life?!

"I love you." Hu Tao blurted out.

"I'm only interested in those equal to me. Now don't disappoint me again." Jing disappeared from Hu Tao's sights and left him on the forest's floor.

**[Hu Tao's ****loyalty**** has reached 100%]**

**[He is now able to receive a SCP from the Host as a gift for his loyalty. Host has also received 1 epic ticket for their first follower reaching 100%]**

Jing's eyebrows raised at this notice. She didn't think she'd see this so soon. She would have to work on increasing the loyalty percentage for her other followers as well. Maybe she should gift them rewards from time to time after they do a good job for her. She'll need to think of missions for them to do first beforehand though. Hu Tao already has a gift coming to him for being the first to fully submit to her. After he completes an important task given by her, she'll give him that worthy gift.

**[Mission ****available**** for host!]**

**[Hu Tao has been thoroughly embarrassed and humiliated by someone far stronger than him. Help him grow strong enough to destroy everyone that was involved in the event that nearly killed him! One of those persons involved was also a Person of Fate! A blessed individual whose rise to the heavens is something fixed by one of the immortals above.]**

**[Reminder! Hu Tao must kill Bo Fai, Yanyu, and Teng Yu with his own hands. No help is allowed during his revenge or the host will be ****penalized**** severely. Hu Tao must be gifted an SCP before killing Bo Fai.]**

**[Rewards: 5 epic tickets, Infant Heavenly Steel Tree seed]**

Oh, so it seems the system wasn't just focused on her alone. Most of the missions so far had to do with Jing or some other character but never her allies. Hu Tao had quite the fight ahead of him.

'A person blessed by the gods above huh? That sounds pretty interesting. I wonder what other kind of characters are blessed and what could I stand to gain from not killing them?'

Jing started to travel along the tops of the trees within the Immortal Forest once more. She heard the roar of the mutant Golden Panda. Things were about the reach the end soon. Jing hopped her way on towards the roar of the panda and managed to spot two cultivators fighting. Normally she would've just ignored the two small fries and focused on the main prize of this but one of the cultivators fighting had a familiar face.

It was that girl who was next to the talented boy that got rid of the Stone Koala earlier. Did they split up? Was that why she was alone right now? Why was this pretty boy fighting her?

Jing focused her eyes and saw that one of the cubs of the golden panda was over here somehow. Was that why the Mama Panda screaming her head off up ahead? How did these two sneak this little guy over here without anyone else finding out? They aren't as strong as the other disciples fighting the Mama Panda either. One of them must be good at hiding themselves. Jing let her curiosity win over her. She decided to see who gets to become the new owner of the baby mutant golden panda.

* * *

Wan Qing pointed her sword at the female disciple.

"Give up on taking this spirit beast cub. If you refuse, I will be forced to kill you here." Wan Qing warned.

"I won't give up so easily. Even if you are 4 stages ahead of me." Dai Yu spoke as she pointed her own blade at Qing.

"Idiot." Wan Qing muttered before disappearing from her previous spot and appearing above Dai Yu with her blade posed to cleave Dai Yu's head off.

Dai Yu could barely react! She somehow managed to put her blade up before Qing could kill her and was sent flying off her feet backwards! The strength in that sword was not negligible! She didn't even have time to strengthen her arms with qi to defend against that blow because of how fast it was. If it wasn't for her spirit weapon then she would've died right there.

Wan Qing looked at that blade. It had to be earth rank or stellar rank to take one of her attacks and not be damaged at all. Hmph, no matter. Even if it takes a hundred strikes, she will get her hands on this mutant cub. No one will stop her from claiming what she wants unless they kill her and take it from her hands. Qing no longer held back against the dumb beauty.

She grew four butterfly wings made of qi from her back. Now luck would no longer be a factor. Qing flew towards Dai Yu as if she was a streak of light. Her blade clanged against the bubble spell Dai Yu put up in fear.

"Ohohoho. Did I scare you that badly? That you needed to hide inside a bubble so that you wouldn't die? Honestly, you look so cute in there. You should stay in there for the rest of your life!" Wan Qing laughed in her deep manly voice.

She turned around and headed towards the wrapped-up panda cub. It was tied up by qi chains from a talisman and unconscious. Qing reached out to pick up the sleeping spirit beast but before she could, a blade was thrown at her! She swiped at the incoming sword with her own and sent it flying into the distance.

"Nice try but not good enough." Qing sneered.

"Or is it?!" Dai Yu's blade suddenly stopped mid-air and came flying back towards her as if it had a will of its own!

The blade started flying around her as she took out another blade from a storage ring? Now that was interesting to find out. Not just anyone could afford a storage ring. Not even she owned a storage ring despite being one of the most talented disciples in the Inner Court. Either her background was not as simple as Wan Qing thought or she stole it somehow.

"Who are you?!" Qing cautiously asked. Offending someone for this mutant golden panda cub wasn't worth her life in the long run. Clans that can afford storage rings for their children are not an existence Wan Qing can afford to go against right now.

"I'm Dai Yu!"

"Where did you get that storage ring from?" Qing asked after not knowing about a Yu clan.

"None of your business!"

"If you hand that ring over to me, you could still leave here with your life intact." Qing proposed.

"Like I would give this ring to anyone! Brother Kun Lao gave me this as a ring! I'd rather die than betray the trust he's given me!"

"Isn't that just so romantic?" Qing cooed.

"S-Shut up! It's not like that at all!" Dai Yu fiercely argued despite blushing heavily.

"Sure, it isn't Yu. That's what we all say when we're in love, you know?" Wan Qing calmly walked up to the distracted Dai Yu.

"Lo-Love?! No no no no. You're looking too into it! There's no way it's something like that..." She said unconfidently.

"I was an innocent virgin just like you before I made something of myself in the sect. I know exactly how you feel. It wasn't until my talent for cultivation showed that any men would actually take me up on my advances. That still didn't stop me from pursuing them though."

"Men...?" She asked confused.

"That's right. I'm interested in men just like any other girl. Is there something strange about that?" Wan Qing questioned as she stood in front of Dai Yu.

"But you're a..."

"I'm a what?" Wan Qing hid her killing intent behind an innocent smile.

"You're a man Senior! How can you be interested in men?! That's wrong!"

"I'm a lady. Not a man."

"No, you're not Senior! Just look at you! Anyone can tell you're a man!"

"I guess that's what I get for trying to make friends with ignorant peasants." Qing slowly stabbed her sword into Dai Yu's stomach. "Hah... One day I'll get to have a girl talk with someone that won't judge me negatively for what I am."

"Senior...Why...?" Dai Yu questioned with a look of sadness on her face.

"Hush up now sweetie. Our chance for friendship ended the moment you decided to be so thick headed." Wan Qing took her sword out of Dai Yu and flicked the blood off the blade onto the dirt.

She started to walk away and as she turned around, she noticed the sudden appearance of someone else.

"DAI YU!" The boy screamed as he moved extremely quickly and appeared over the dying body of Dai Yu.

Wan Qing shrugged her shoulders and lifted the wrapped-up panda cub on her shoulder. She walked away without any lingering emotions and a frightful amount of killing intent hit her from the back. It dared her to make a single step out of this clearing and her head would be rolling the same time her foot hits the ground. Now that was a scary amount of killing intent, did she just kill his girlfriend or something? Oh! That might've been the guy she was in love with. Hah... Now that's embarrassing, being caught up by the lover of someone you just killed.

Qing safely placed the golden panda baby next to a tree as she got ready to fight the lover boy. He had two strange bronze bracelets hanging off his arm. Cute fashion statement but too bad he's going to be dying soon. The least Qing could do for him was to send him off with his lover. Wouldn't it be more torturous to have the lovers split apart with one in life and the other in death? Even she wasn't that cruel.

"Why...? Why did you try to kill Dai Yu...?" He asked while shaking angrily.

"I suppose you deserve an answer... She was your lover after all. And I'm a sucker for love. I guess it was a difference in principles." Wan Qing calmly answered.

"I see... Then prepare to die because of a difference in our principles." He stood up and pulled out his blade.

"Hah. Cute in looks and personality." Qing giggled, clearly looking down on the 2nd stage Qi Consolidator.

She blinked and that's all it took for Kun Lao to appear in front of her with his sword aimed directly at her heart. This kind of speed wasn't the speed of a normal 2nd stage Qi Consolidator! Qing blocked his attack and had to defend herself against his rage-filled sword strikes. Love is truly amazing isn't it? Someone at his stage is capable of sending a cultivator at her level on the defensive through the power of love! Well, it wasn't just love, that would be silly if someone could become stronger just with emotions alone. He had a bloodline that most likely just awakened after seeing his girlfriend dead on the floor. A very powerful bloodline that was strong enough to make them equal in strength despite being four small stages away from each other.

Wan Qing wasn't worried too much. As long as she kept a cool head and let him tire himself out, she should get away from this without much trouble. The awakening of a bloodline is not something anyone can just master right out of the gate. It takes careful practice and experience to get used to the effects of a bloodline, unless you're one of those super prodigies who were born with their bloodlines active right out of the womb. Then you're just a monster.

Kun Lao's bloodline was putting a heavy tax on his body and Qing could tell that he wasn't going to leave this fight without any permanent injuries to his body. It looks like his body was too weak to use his bloodline to its maximum limit. It didn't seem like it bothered him at all though. They've been fighting for about 5 or so minutes now and he's still going as strong as he was from the beginning. Isn't he afraid of dying before being able to kill her? He won't be able to avenge his girlfriend if he kills himself first.

"YOU BASTARD!" His qi exploded in a light red explosion.

Wan Qing was sent tumbling off into the air from the force of that qi alone. It was a good thing she had wings because she was knocked pretty far up. If she didn't, the fall would not have been pretty. Even for someone at her stage. Wan Qing shook her head before spotting Kun Lao suddenly holding a bow in his hands. Did he have a storage ring as well? Where did he pull out that bow from? That bow is way too big to be have hidden anywhere on his body. Oh wait, the girl did say that she was given her storage ring by lover boy so, it makes sense that he has his own as well.

He let go of the bowstring and Qing's eyes bulged in complete shock! She barely had enough time to react to the 'arrow' sent at her! Her sword protected her from whatever he sent at her drilling a hole through her skull. She slashed at the thing and it looked like bone shards? What the hell did he just fire at her with that bow?

"Puc!"

She got distracted... He fired another arrow that pierced right through the left of her abdomen and a third one that shot a hole through her shoulder. She started falling out of the sky. Her concentration was messed up and she couldn't focus on stabilizing her breathing to keep her wings formed. Wan Qing fell and broke multiple branches on her way down to the ground. This was the first time she's ever been in this bad of a situation.

Kun Lao stood over her. She could see the painful grimace on his face as his arm quickly regenerated. That bow... It fired his own bones at his enemies? What kind of lunatic would use such a crazy weapon!? She could barely take any air into her lungs right now. Trying to speak right now would probably kill her. What an ugly ending... Not beautiful in the slightest...

Wan Qing did the only thing she could do as a disciple of the Golden Serpent Sect. She glared at Kun Lao with all her soul. He glared back with a death glare of his own and turned away from her before grabbing Dai Yu's body, bridal style and vanished into the forest. So, this is it for her huh... So much for talent when bullshit bloodlines and spirit weapons like that exist.

'I'm sorry sisters... I wasn't able to accomplish my dreams of becoming a respected and accepted cultivator throughout the lands. I wasn't able to change the world into one that would allow people like me to fit in with the rest... I wasn't even able to find a single friend in the world that truly accepted me for who I am... Haha... What a waste of a life...' Tears flowed from Wan Qing's nearly dead body.

* * *

Jing stood over the almost dead body of Wan Qing. She was interested in her. Yes, she said her. She may have the genitals of a male but if she herself wants to be referred to as a woman, Jing has no problem with that. It may be a bit unusual but it isn't as if it personally affects her. What did she care if he wanted to become a woman? All she cared about was how useful she could be and seeing the situation she was in... Her loyalty wouldn't be that hard to gain after being brought back from the brink of death. But her main reason for approaching this soon-to-be corpse was this...

**[Mission ****available**** for host!]**

**[Take in Wan Qing and allow her the chance to get revenge on her killer! Her killer, Kun Lao, was no simple disciple! He was a Person of Fate! One blessed by the heavens themselves to rise to the top of this world! You will now be tasked with taking their blessings or killing them before they can become someone unstoppable!]**

**[Reminder! Only Wan Qing is allowed to kill Kun Lao for the rewards of this mission! Wan Qing must be gifted an SCP before being able to take on Kun Lao!]**

**[Rewards: 5 epic tickets, Sky ranked blacksmith manual]**

Jing took out a refined recovery pill and forced Qing to swallow it. The injuries to her body were being healed at a quick rate similar to the boy who managed to snatch SCP-154 while the lackies of the top rankers were dealing with the Mutant Golden Panda. Qing soon awakened and Jing stood over her with her mask on.

"What is it that you desire?" She asked.

"Did you save me...?" Qing asked.

"When you were about to depart from this world, what did you wish you could accomplish before passing on?" She asked.

"I...joined this sect in hopes of becoming the sect leader and reforming it into the most beautiful sect in the world..."

"What else?" Jing knew she had more ambitions than that.

"To make a real friend... To find love... to be treated with respect and dignity like any other human. To show the Blossoming Flower sect that they should've never rejected me. To show everyone who ever looked down on me that I am not to be underestimated! To bring honor and peace to my many sisters that supported me for who I chose to be! To kill Kun Lao as payback for killing me!"

'Uh. That was a lot more than I needed but that's fine.' Jing held her hand out.

"I have the resources and power to make your ambitions come true. Join me and I'll give you everything you ever wanted and more." Jing's aura towered over the confused Wan Qing.

"Why me?" Qing hesitated before taking her hand.

"I see a powerful drive in you... I need people like you. People who want to bring about a change. People who will set out to accomplish their goals at any cost. People who need a helping hand..."

Qing took Jing's hand.

"You've made a wise choice Wan Qing. You won't regret choosing to become one of mine." Jing removed her mask and smiled.

"Who are you...?"

"My name is Jing. Follow me. I have some things to give you as a gift for joining me, as well as some things to tell you about my group."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I plan to add more missions for Jing in the future so that i don't forget that she has a fucking system. The missions will be related to her followers gaining strength, something related to SCPs, or her goals and ambitions. This is also the official reveal of Persons of Fates in the story! Actual people chosen by the heavens themselves to rise to the top.

What kind of reward do you think Jing will get from the Epic Ticket? Comment your thoughts and suggestions for future ticket rewards! Thinking of xianxia items, magical treasures, and stuff like that isn't as easy as i thought it would be.

And as many of you have guessed, Wan Qing was indeed going to join our main cast. We won't have any new additions to Jing's group until the tournament is over and we're exploring the world outside of the sect. That's not me saying that Jing will conquer the sect by then, its just me saying that we're gonna leave the sect eventually and kind of explore this world.

Comment about some type of chapters you guys wish to see me write about, not gonna lie its getting a bit difficult writing slice of life chapters that isn't just useless filler.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	43. Getting into Trouble Again!

Lei Zhi found himself surrounded by a group of youth. He just got done capturing a spirit beast with his fishing rod for a task from the Mission Hall and the young men and women with various weapons demanded he handed over all his belongings. Normally, Lei Zhi would have handed whatever his robber wanted as soon as possible but things aren't the same as they once were. He has become someone different from his past self. He has the capability to defend himself now. The robbers were disciples from his own sect and were varied in their cultivation stages. Thankfully the highest ones were only 2 stages above him and at these low stages of the cultivation ladder, the only difference is in physical strength and qi quantity.

"I believe we can come to a favorable conclusion that doesn't involve robbing me of everything I have." Lei Zhi politely said.

"Unless you got a buddy at the 7th stage hiding around here, don't count on it old man." The young man waved a dagger at him.

"I'm afraid I do not, but can I ask you young men and women a question?" Lei Zhi asked.

"This gramps sure likes to talk a lot, why don't we just rob him already?"

"Sure, ask anything you want but it's not gonna help you at all." Dagger Youth smirked.

"Are you all truly in such dire straits that you cannot help but rob others to advance?" Lei Zhi questioned with concern.

The robbers looked at each other in confusion before suddenly erupting in laughter together.

"Haha! What the hell?! Has this old man gone senile?!"

"You think someone would rob people because of a reason like that?! What an idiot! Hahahaha!"

"He's so cute and stupid! I wish I had a grandpa like him." A female robber commented.

"Listen old man. We're part of Wolfeng Gang. Haven't you heard of us before?" Dagger Youth asked.

"Ah, you all are part of that bandit faction. I understand now. You steal and harm others because you find it enjoyable not because you are forced to do so."

Lei Zhi could only call the Wolfeng Gang, a bandit faction. There is no other way to describe them in a more fitting way. From all the rumors he heard about their group, these people are the worst of the worst. Murder, rape, theft, nothing is considered too far for those in this group. It is said that one doesn't even need to be at odds with them to be considered enemies. They harass and take from anyone not stronger them.

It is often called the Weakling's Paradise because of how anyone can do whatever they please as long as they don't offend anyone strong enough to wipe out their faction. If you want to violate young women and young men, Wolfeng Gang will take you in. If you want to do nothing but kill and torture people, the Wolfeng Gang will welcome you with open arms. If you want to never work for anything in your life and take things from those who have, The Wolfeng Gang has a spot for you.

A group like this isn't necessary for the future he envisions for the sect. It would be better if it was completely wiped out but that would be too hasty. Lei Zhi is letting his emotions affect him more than he should. He doesn't know if everyone in the group are irredeemable monsters. For now, he should just retreat. It would be the safest option and avoid any conflict with this group.

"I hope you all find a better path to follow in life. Farewell." Lei Zhi's figure turned hazy.

He appeared in multiple places within the center of the Wolfeng Gang. It looked like there were copies of Lei Zhi all around and he was the one who now surrounded the bandits!

"Kill him! It's just a stupid trick!" The Dagger Youth sliced at the throat of one of the misty clones and it dissipated away.

All the members of the Wolfeng Gang attacked the hazy figures and were shocked once they saw that none of them were the real Lei Zhi!

"That fucking old coot gave us the slip!"

"That coward!"

"Next time I see that old man, I'm plunging my dagger right through his heart for daring to run away from me, Wang Yong!"

Lei Zhi actually didn't run away that far. He was hiding nearby while concealing his qi. The reason why was because he was curious if they would try and swear revenge against him for simply running away and it turns out they did. Lei Zhi was actually at a lost here. There was no way he could have handled that situation without them trying to aim for him later.

Well actually, there was one way but he would always consider that the last possible option. How could he have hopes to reform today's youth if he has to kill them? No, Lei Zhi wouldn't take the future away from anyone that isn't completely irredeemable. Although it will be quite scary to have a target on his back like Bing and Ying, perhaps it will help him understand just how far gone some youths are.

Lei Zhi ran away for good this time, choosing not to kill the young group of cultivators. He had to leave behind the spirit beast he caught but it was better than having to fight for no reason. He could still find another one before making his way back to the sect. Iron-horned deer aren't rare in this part of the forest.

Half an hour later, he spotted a group of them grazing on the grass. Lei Zhi hid himself from their sights and took out his rod on his back. He looked for the strongest and healthiest deer to hook. You could tell how far an Iron-horned deer was in its cultivation by looking at the color and size of its horn. The one Lei Zhi was looking at were large enough threaten bears and gorillas. He couldn't see colors though so he hoped that size would be good enough to determine their maturity.

Lei Zhi tossed his hook into the rear of the deer and quickly reeled it in. It screamed in pain, causing all the other deer to flee away as quickly as they could. It flailed and struggled against the pull of the hook but all it did was cause it to tire out even faster. Hooking it on the butt kept any serious damages from happening to the deer, if he hooked it anywhere else, he could've caused serious injuries that would take expensive materials to heal with.

Fishing spirit beasts on land wasn't that different from fishing them from the water. They just took a bit longer to tire out after you caught them. The deer was now softly breathing on the ground next to Lei Zhi. It was completely out of energy after trying to break free from his line and basically harmless. He wished his fishing rod tamed beasts on land the same way it did to beasts in water. It could have been enjoyable to ride the deer all the way back to the sect.

Lei Zhi slapped a capturing spell on the exhausted beast and watched as it was swallowed up into a golden bead. The golden bead shined a light every few seconds and then dimmed into a bronze colored bead. Lei Zhi knew that the deer didn't have much strength in it to resist the spell. This would make things easier on him; trying to carry that heavy spirit beast back would take too much time and he wasn't a young man anymore. Lei Zhi returned back to the sect without further incidents and got his contribution points.

* * *

"Kill that fat bastard!"

"Don't let him escape alive!"

"I'm going to eat his flesh and shit out his bones!"

Bing slapped another teleportation spell on himself and got himself out of the immediate danger that he was in. Those crazy Huan clan dogs chased him out of his home and even chased him into the Immortal Forest. It's going to be a hard few weeks until the start of the Plains but he should be fine if he plays it as safe as he has. He's fully stocked up on teleportation talismans so if he runs into any spirit beasts or cultivators stronger than him, he can escape whenever he wants.

For anything weaker than him, he can feed it to his shield and cultivation techniques. Just like these cultivators behind him that are at the 4th stage just like him. After he killed their secret weapon, he spent the rest of the day frantically trying to break through to the next realm. Any sliver of strength is needed in this dangerous time. He's already called for backup using the Empress's special messaging talisman. Ying said she was on her way and was excited to cut down a few more Huan dogs. Lei Zhi said that he could hide out at his shack until it was time for the Plains. Hu Tao told him to kill them all or die for being a worthless weakling. The Empress didn't respond...

But back to the situation at hand, Bing beefed himself up before using Swift Devil and charging into one of the three cultivators behind him. The cultivator was sent flying into the tree. If all of his ribs weren't shattered by that shield bash, then something else inside him had to be ruined just as worst. The other two were surprised at Bing's sudden appearance and quickly moved to take out their swords and strike him down. Bing grabbed the faster cultivator by the throat and used her body to defend against the sword strike of the other. The cultivator's sword stabbed straight through his ally and he was stunned at his actions, giving Bing enough time to drop the body and smack his shield into the skull of the remaining Huan clan member.

With a powerful stomp, Bing crushed the neck of the fighter and stood among the remaining bodies. He gathered them all up in a pile in preparation to feed it to his Devil Arms martial art. A sinister and dark air surrounding Bing as he activated the special breathing technique. His hand came alive as a forked tongue split open his palm and licked the air with excitement. Sharp pointed teeth appeared inside the mouth and the tongue hovered over the bodies, salivating. Soon, everything but the bones were sucked whole by the mouth.

Bing felt the strength in his body increasing as the tongue sucked the bodies dry. He was glad he didn't actually taste anything while his hand was doing its thing. It would be hard to not call himself a cannibal if he could taste these guys. Bing might be willing to do certain things to increase his strength but he doesn't plan on losing his humanity and common sense at the cost of it. After draining the cultivators dry of any remaining meat, he crushed their bones and fed their blood to his shield, giving it a nicer shine but the size stayed the same this time.

"I wonder what you need all this blood for in the first place..." Bing mumbled to his shield.

* * *

Ying was wandering through the Immortal Forest looking for Bing. The big guy managed to get himself into some deep trouble and most of the Huan clan from the sect is after him. Since she was his friend and didn't really want to see him die in such a pathetic way, she decided to help him out! It wasn't like she had anything better to do nowadays. Just constant training, ranking matches, eating, and sleeping.

Ying found herself running into a group of cultivators. They were around her cultivation rank and seemed to be looking for something... or someone.

"Hey you aren't looking for a dumpling in the shape of a person too, are you?" Ying asked.

"She's the fatass's friend. She has to know where he's hiding. Get her!"

Ying stood and watched as 5 cultivators out the 6 in front of her rushed towards her. If they know she and Bing are friends then they should know that she's stronger than him, right?

"She's mine!"

"What a beauty she is! Maybe I can have some fun with her if she doesn't talk willingly."

The greatsword wielder didn't even spare a second for these idiots. Bing could be in danger right now so, she didn't have the time to play with these trashes. With a single slash of her sword, she managed to cut through three of the cultivators' midsections. Crippling fear, disbelief, and panic filled the others. Ying stabbed her sword through the chest of one of the idiots just standing around and tossed his body at the one who fell down to the ground after seeing her cut the other three in half.

And with a mighty leap, she stuck her sword through the two like a skewer. The last guy was at the same rank as herself but the stain in his robes told her everything she needed to know about this coward. They locked eyes. Ying's brightly burning orange eyes seemed to bore into his soul. His life was already in her hands and nothing he could do could possibly stop her. His life was forfeit the moment he encountered her. He didn't expect that today would be his last day living in this world.

Ying walked over to the doofus staring off into space. She knocked on his head and got no reaction. Did she just scare this guy into a retard?

"Hello? Is anyone hoooooome?" She waved her hand in front of his eyes but he still didn't react.

He didn't even blink but the puddle beneath his legs was getting larger.

'Whatever.'

Ying ran off deeper into the forest to try and find Bing. She took out any Huan cultivators around that she met with to cull their numbers a bit more for Bing. Since the old man said he could stay at his place, he should be heading somewhere in that direction. Hopefully, she'll be able to catch up to him before he gets himself killed but knowing Bing, he should be fine. He likes to use his fat head a lot to think about pointless things and worry about nothing.

* * *

"You've caused a lot of trouble for my clan you know that fatty?" Bing had blood running down his face while holding his shield towards his opponent.

"You've caused a lot of trouble for me as well. Your clan should know when to cut your losses. You've lost more than you could have ever possibly gained by trying to kill me over and over. Even now... They're going to lose an 8th stage Qi Gatherer by trying to kill me." Bing said as his 4th stage qi was musculizing his fat.

"Ho... So, you think you'll be able to kill me Fatty? A 4th stage Qi Gatherer with a little shield is going to be able to kill me?"

"It might not happen now or anytime soon but, I promise I will destroy the Huan clan and everyone who came after my life. I didn't ask for this but trust me, I will finish it." The aura surrounding Bing was something frightening and terrifying.

The look in his eyes promised pain and destruction to all those that stood by the Huan clan. The types of eyes that only a certain type of people could have. A certain type of people that will follow through on their promises no matter who or what stands in their way. Maybe Bing isn't as ordinary and common as he thought. Not just any 4th stage Qi Gatherer could make someone 4 stages higher than him actually frightened just with a glare and promise.

"Talk big all you want Fatty, you won't even die with a proper burial!" He tried to laugh off his previous fright. There's no way he could be scared by this tub of lard. He rushed at him to kill!

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lei Zhi is still having trouble on his journey of trying to find a way of reforming today's youth! It looks like it'll be a while before he can figure out a way of dealing with today's youths without murdering them! It's a slow process but he isn't one to give up that easily.

Ever since killing one of the prominent Huan clan members right in front of their faces, Bing has been on the run from the Huan clan! They're out for blood and he's just trying to survive! He called in for help to save him from this very determined family clan. Just how will they manage to deal with this dangerous situation?

Next chapter on Monday, we'll see if Bing will manage to survive against this 8th stage Qi Gatherer with all his limbs intact!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	44. Bing's Help Arrives!

Bing flexed his hand as he transformed his body. The round and wide Bing was gone and a large and more powerful Bing was taking his place. Strength radiated off his figure and his body seemed to be far stronger than his qi cultivation would suggest. Reaching this level of physical might is far uncommon for the typical cultivator. Only those with masochistic martial arts could ever hope to compete with the sky-ranked Devil's Arms and Devil's Physique.

The type of martial arts that forces the user to continually destroy their bodies in different ways and constantly escalates in promise of an even stronger body. Swimming in lava pools, taking lightning on with their bodies, and destroying their flesh and bones to recreate them with even more toughness! This is the path of the most famous physical cultivators. But Bing was something of an anomaly.

Bing didn't need to hurt himself or work his body out to extreme levels at all to gain great strength. All he needed was to absorb the body of another with his Devil's Arms and his strength would grow! He could take the progress of another's and benefit from their hard work with far less effort given. Killing someone in this dog-eat-dog world, wasn't much when compared to training to the limit every day and strengthening your body all to have that hard work stolen from another with less than half the work!

To advance his Devil's Physique all he needed to do was eat food with high quality qi and nourishment. The body technique would covert 100% of the nutritional value in the food to his body making sure that not a single piece of it was wasted. The normal cultivator couldn't even come close to Bing's absorption rate. The only way for a cultivator to reach 100% like Bing was if they got a pill refiner to refined it for them and refine it perfectly without a single accident.

It was a total cheat and Bing has only recently realized just how powerful his Devil Arts were. His true strength would be on a different level compared to his actual cultivation stage as long as he continues to take the bodies of others with his mouth hand and eat qi rich foods and herbs.

"Die fool!" Bing stood his ground like a stubborn bull and took the attack head on with his shield.

He was forced to slide back from his strength but barely moved from his original position. The Huan dog sent multiple slashes with his sword at Bing. Bing's eyes could track them all, his body could respond to each slice, and his shield could defend against each strike! If it wasn't for the many bodies he's absorbed since the start of being chased, Bing wouldn't have stood a chance against this cultivator.

Well, he still doesn't but at least he wasn't being completely dominated. The situation changed in a second, soon the sword became nothing but a gleaming ray of light that wanted nothing more than to pierce into his flesh. The speed of his swordsmanship increased and now Bing was having trouble reacting to his attacks. He felt his flesh being sliced, his reaction being slowed, and his strength being drained with every hit.

Bing was forced entirely on the defensive lest he wanted to die from a thousand cuts! If his opponent had a spirit weapon, Bing was sure a couple pieces of his flesh would be lying on the ground right now. He had to do something and do it quick. If things continued the way it was going now, Bing would find himself sliced into pieces!

"Swift Devil!" Bing blasted away as if he was trying to escape.

"Don't run away Fatty! I'm not done prepping you for the main course!"

"Swift Devil! Swift Devil! Swift Devil!" Bing became nothing but a blur as he left behind the 8th stage Qi Gatherer.

He dropped to his hands and knees after plowing through multiple trees. Those destroyed trees would lead the Huan member right towards him but that was fine. He didn't run out of fear for his life or anything but to wisely retreat in preparation for the day he would get his revenge. Bing took out another teleportation spell and slapped it on himself, disappearing from his position and appearing 50 steps elsewhere.

He dug into his pockets and ate a recovery pill and a qi pill to get himself back in a working state. There's no telling where exactly he just teleported himself, there might be some more Huan clan cultivators around. He couldn't see anyone nearby and the forest looked basically untouched from where he was. Looking down at his plump body, Bing took a second to catch his breath and just relaxed for the moment.

He's been running and fighting since the early morning thanks to the Huan clan. There weren't moments like this where he could just sit and relax against a tree. No threat to his life was anywhere in sight and the Immortal Forest was just as beautiful as ever. He used this chance to cultivate in peace. Any time he could use to increase his strength was invaluable with the circumstances he found himself in.

It was nothing but the sound of birds tweeting and insects buzzing. The wind was calm and gentle, unlike his current circumstances that was anything but those two things. His stomach moved along with his chest as he breathed in and out during his cultivation. His stomach being more noticeable than his chest but Bing was not ashamed of his body. He was taught that you should love yourself as you are and stood by that saying with all his heart.

Bing continuously cycled his qi within his body and used it to bash against the barrier leading to the 5th stage. It wasn't too long ago that he broke into the 4th stage so it wouldn't be anytime soon that he would be able to breakthrough to the 5th realm with just his talent alone. To overcome his average talent, Bing would need countless resources to climb the heights of cultivation. Bing wasn't one to normally get excited over dangerous things but once the Treasured Plains open, it isn't too farfetched to say that his entire life is going to change from the magical treasures inside. As long as he plays his cards right and use some common sense, he should have a fairly good time inside.

Bing's situation didn't change for a while. Peacefully cultivating under a tree with the wind blowing at him lightly. It wasn't until a familiar face showed up abruptly that Bing's situation changed.

Bang!

"Gah!" Ying's flaming figure was sent flying through the tree Bing was cultivating under.

Bing turned around to see the 8th stage Qi Gatherer he was fighting before surrounded by rose petals. He had a deep bleeding gash on his stomach with eyes full of rage and hatred. He didn't even take notice of Bing as he covered his sword with the rose petals and posed with his sword's tip aimed at Ying. Ying slowly rose from the ground covered in wounds and burning with terrible heat. She didn't seem to notice him either as her sword became a giant mass of flames. She pointed her blade at the Huan cultivator back.

"You're not so bad for a mutt from the Huan clan." She spat some blood out of her mouth.

"First, it was the Fatty to disrespect me and now it is some stupid girl!? I, Shui Huan, have never been insulted like this ever! Does my cultivation stage mean nothing to you ants?! Does my clan mean nothing in your eyes!? Just die already!" He vanished from his previous position and dashed at extremely high speeds towards Ying.

Ying didn't even blink as she centered herself and charged towards the 8th stage with her sword. She held it like a lance and looked like she planned on piercing him through the chest just like he does with her.

'Hah... It's just like her to not even try and think of avoiding his attack. The huge amount of qi in that rose petal covered blade is not something he can just pull out on a whim. If she avoided it till, he drained himself dry she wouldn't have to risk her life like this. That reckless straightforward fighting style is something I'll never understand. Life is too precious to take unnecessary risks.' Bing thought as the two blades clashed against one another.

A fierce wave of heat that would turn any average disciple in the 6th stage to ash, shot out from Ying's blade behind Shui. Her flames were just barely on the cusps of reaching Shui's body but his qi defended him from the initial intensity of the heat. His skin however was covered in blisters and reddening from the flames. The wound on his stomach was bubbling from the heat. The trees behind him were reduced to wood ash. Even Bing had to shield himself from the heat using his qi and shield to protect him.

From out of Shui's blade, countless rose petals shot out from his blade. Petals that looked sharp enough to cut through any metal. The petals sliced into Ying's body, having cuts appear all over her. The flames engulfing her were barely strong enough to defend her vital areas but she was still heavily bleeding. The trees behind her were sliced into numerous pieces and fell to the ground, the petals went through them like they were nothing more than paper taking on miniature swords.

The two suffered terrible injuries with Ying coming out on top with looking the most injured but even with that, she was still overpowering Shui in strength! Her giant blade's sharp tip was pushing back Shui's sword! Shui's shocked expression showed just how he felt about this situation.

"Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! There's no way I could lose to a girl two stages below me! No! No! No! I refuse to accept it! I won't accept it! Never could I allow myself to be humiliated so badly! I am a member of the great Huan clan! You are nothing but worms that should be licking the dirt off my feet!" Shui screamed with great power.

His qi started swirling to new heights. Ying's sword started to be pushed back inch by inch no matter how much strength she put into her arm.

"I got you Ying!" Bing suddenly called out. "Swift Devil!"

Bing tackled Shui off his feet and then rolled onto the ground. Bing suffered some cuts from the swirling rose petals that was around Shui's body but ignored them as he bashed his shield into Shui's head as hard as he could. Shui lost his sword from the tackle and could only try and push Bing off with his qi and rose petals alone.

"Bing?" Ying absentmindedly muttered before looking over to see Bing on top of Shui. "When did you get here?"

Bing couldn't answer her question as Shui bucked and twisted to get free from his great weight. He used his knees to hold Shui's arms down to stop him from grabbing him. He could feel himself crushing the ribs of the arrogant cultivator but that would take too long and these rose petals could take his eye out if he isn't careful. Bing grew an additional pair of arms that quickly shot out of the front of his stomach and grabbed the throat of Shui. He slowly crushed his throat while slamming his shield into Shui's head at full force.

"YOU FAT TRASH! HOW DARE YOU!?" Bing was suddenly blindsided by someone and knocked near Ying's legs.

They were a nice pair of legs but now wasn't the time to focus on such a thing. Bing flipped himself up and took out a recovery pill from his pocket to give to Ying.

"Thanks, but don't expect to see me in a situation like that again." She swallowed the pill. The many cuts on her body were being slowly healed.

"Let's hope a situation like that doesn't happen again..." Bing muttered as he looked at the groups of Huan clan members gathering together in front of them.

"Speaking of situations... You wouldn't mind running away with me, would you?" Bing asked innocently.

Ying just looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"A Yue never runs from her enemies. I won't shame my family by fleeing from a dangerous battle. A Yue can only grow by surviving through the bloodiest and most terrible of battles."

Bing really hated Yue's barbaric savage family and their rules but it's not like he expected any other answer after all the time with her. The girl will go forward and never even consider going left, right, down, up, or back. Really makes it impossible to get out of perilous situations with her because of it. It looks like they'll have to go all out if they want to survive. If worse comes to worst he'll have to teleport with Ying against her will.

"KILL THEM!" The Huan clan members charged towards them.

Ying grinned as she looked at the unsurmountable odds. The thought of losing never even crossed her mind. She'll get out of this alive or die trying. She would try and keep Bing from dying though. Her family's rules don't involve outsiders. She stood right next to Bing who was fully ready to take on the large group with her.

"I don't believe all this bloodshed is necessary my fellow disciples. We are all Golden Serpent disciples. We shouldn't be so eager to rip each other apart." Lei Zhi suddenly spoke up as Xiurong jumped forward and grew to giant heights and towered over everyone.

Xiurong stood in front of Bing, Ying, and Lei Zhi. She snapped her mighty claws and the Huan clan stopped in their tracks seeing her huge size. She was almost as big as a Dragon Worm! Everyone present had no doubts that she was able to take on a Dragon Worm with her size and even win! Lei Zhi smiled at Ying and Bing.

"Get out of the way Zhi. I'm not running away from this." Ying threw away his heroic action without much regard.

"Please rethink this Ying. It would do no good for anyone to indulge in a meaningless slaughter."

"It's not meaningless! These bastards want our head! And if that's not a good enough reason to kill someone then I don't know what is."

"You would kill someone for literally anything." Bing pointed out

"Shut it Bing. I'm saving your life here if you forgot." She punched him in his arm and stared back at Lei Zhi.

"That's right you are saving his life remember? When did killing become a part of saving someone's life?" Lei Zhi questioned.

Ying grumbled. Her goal was to help out Bing. She didn't come out here only to slaughter the Huan dogs.

"Fine Zhi! I'll back down this time but don't expect something like this again!" She faced Bing with an angry huff. Seeing him smile so stupidly and relieved made her want to take her frustrations out on him. How could anyone be satisfied with running away? Zhi's stupid peaceful nature and Bing's stupid cowardly personality are so annoying sometimes!

She repeatedly punched Bing in his arm as Lei Zhi called back Xiurong and Bing took out another teleportation spell to teleport them all away. Bing grabbed the two and they vanished 100 steps away. Ying angrily took the lead as she had more experience in the Immortal Forest than any of them. She led them towards Lei Zhi's shack while unleashing her frustrations on the two by criticizing them and insulting them. The blind middle-aged man and the porky youth only smiled like idiots. No more bloodshed and no possibility of losing their lives in a pointless battle. If anything, they came out on top today in their opinion.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was fun to write and read over. I definitely gotta include more scenes with the main gang doing things together. Escaping from dangerous situations together is pretty fun to write about especially with their personalities towards said danger. Lei Zhi wanted to run away and avoid it when it comes to killing. Bing wanting to cut his losses when things aren't in his favor. And Ying's never surrender attitude towards all opponents and challenges that contrasts so heavily with the two. It's nice.

I look forward to writing more about the gang together in scenes besides escaping from danger but i realize that with their attraction to trouble we're going to be seeing them in trouble a lot more than not seeing them in trouble. Especially when we get to the chapters where we're not in the sect and exploring the world together!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	45. Ying Gets Stung!

Ying lifted her blade into the air and swung it down for the 500th time. She was mildly sweating but this wasn't anywhere near her limit. This was one part of her training, swinging her blade till she couldn't swing it anymore. The other part was image training. Lei Zhi is the one who gave her the idea after she complained about not being able to train her sword technique without cutting people apart.

She had to give the old man credit, this image training was a perfect way of testing everything she's learned and raising her martial arts at the same time. She wondered how an old coot like him could think of something like that and Bing asked for her thankfully.

"Lei Zhi, how did you think of this training method?"

He chuckled sadly before answering.

"I wanted to find a way of making myself stronger without risking my life against the other disciples. So, I watched the strongest disciples fight against each other and imagined myself fighting against them. And since I knew that I had no possible chance against them, they were the perfect opponents to help me train myself as I believed that they would be able to react to anything I could pull out against them." He told them.

"That's pretty smart..." Bing complimented.

"But what if you can't think of anyone that strong?" Ying asked.

"My only advice would be to find someone that you believe is unbeatable. I was always weak and even now I still believe I'm weak. That's why it's not that much of a problem for me to image multiple cultivators that I believe I wouldn't stand a chance against." Lei Zhi responded.

Ying was stuck thinking about multiple people inside her head.

"Why don't you just imagine Hu Tao?" Bing asked.

"That shitty bastard is strong but he's not unbeatable! Just wait till I catch up to him in cultivation!" Ying growled.

"What about any top rankers?" Lei Zhi suggested.

"I don't know much about any of them. None of the people in the Outer Court really gives me a dangerous feeling."

"Why are you only thinking about the people in the Outer Court?" Bing asked.

"You could even think of your own father, mother, sister, or grandfather. Anyone whose fighting style you have a clear understanding of." Lei Zhi added.

"Hmm..." Ying closed her eyes and three figures appeared in front of her.

Jing, Manchu, and her Grandfather stood in front of her. Jing's copy immediately disappeared as she didn't understand how she fought. Ying was indeed terrified of her strength but she didn't know how she used that strength in a fight. Manchu would be the perfect opponent if that shitty bastard, Hu Tao, wasn't always going off about how he's hiding his real strength and never really goes all out in his ranking matches. His copy also faded away, leaving her grandfather as the only person she can battle against. Her grandfather was an incredibly strong cultivator and there was only a single time she's ever seen him going all out. It will have to do.

Bing was doing a different type of training from Ying and Lei Zhi. As a cultivator that uses a shield to battle, his main focus in training was to increase how long he can endure. Endurance is what he needed to train first over his strength, speed, and skill. From what his shield art told him, a shielder than can't last in battle is a useless shielder. Even if his shield were to break, as long as he can keep moving, that is all that matters.

He was repeatedly using his movement martial art, Swift Devil, to wear his body out. Swift Devil is a leg-based technique that is quite different from others. Qi is an important part of using it but the skill places more strain on the body rather than just using up qi. The more Bing uses Swift Devil, the stronger his body becomes in the long run.

"Swift Devil!" Bing sped across the open grass land. "Swift Devil!" Bing shot back towards where he began and continued this until the pain and strain of his body told him he couldn't use Swift Devil anymore without serious injuries to his legs.

Lei Zhi was focused solely on image training for the most part. It wasn't until near the end of the day that Lei Zhi fished out his second aquatic spirit beast that would mark him as a beast master from now on. Lei Zhi tossed his fishing hook into the colored spatial gash leading into the strange world filled with an uncountable number of aquatic creatures and pulled out a very strange beast. Both Bing and Ying stopped their training to get a good look at this mysterious creature. Their curiosity was piqued.

The beast was so clear that you could see completely through it! It was shaped like a bell with a large bulbus head and had very long thick tentacles on the underside of it. It was floating in the air as if it was underwater. The creature's horizontal slant eyes looked at them with curiosity.

"What kind of spirit beast is this?" Ying asked as she accidentally brushed against the bottom of one of the tentacles, trying to touch the translucent bell-shaped head.

Ying's sudden ear-piercing scream and convulsing shaking on the ground scared both Bing and Lei Zhi out of their skins. The spirit beast quickly grabbed onto Lei Zhi and started turning into the colors of his outfit, seemingly turning invisible.

"Get a recovery pill!" Lei Zhi shouted.

"I'm on it! I'm on it!" Bing frantically dug into his pocket and crouched down to feed Ying a pill.

She was still screaming to the top of her lungs and her hand was red and swollen. The reddening was slowly crawling up her arm. Her veins were popping out from every inch of her body until Bing forced her to swallow the recovery pill. She nearly shattered the bones in his arms holding onto him as he was feeding her from her immense strength.

Bing had to also give himself a recovery pill after healing Ying.

"It still hurts...! What the hell did that thing do to me!?" Ying fiercely lashed out by smashing the ground with her fist, creating a small crater in front of her.

"I think only you can tell us that. What happened when you touched his arm?" Lei Zhi asked.

"I just barely touched the stupid thing before feeling like I was stabbed by something and then it felt like I was burning alive! It was like I decided to jump into a pool of lava and every inch of my insides were feeling it! My Burning Eruption martial art is all about fire, heat, and burning! I know what it feels like to burn and that pain was nothing like my flames!" Ying yelled.

"Maybe it's a type of poison..." Bing guessed.

"A poison that causes severe pain instead of sickness?" Lei Zhi questioned.

"Well I don't know for sure. We'd have to test it on an animal or spirit beast and watch how they react to the sting." Bing responded.

"I believe you're right. This is going to be my spirit beast for the time being. I should get to understand and know what he can do." Lei Zhi said carefully rubbing the head of the squishy being and avoiding the numerous tentacles.

"If it was up to me, I'd burn the damn thing up!" Ying angrily shouted.

"Come on Ying. It's not like it tried to hurt you. It was just an accident. Surely it doesn't deserve to die over something like that?" Bing tried to reason.

"YOU didn't get stung by it and felt what I felt! So, shut up!" The two boys could see that Ying was still in pain and was just acting tough to try and take her mind off the pain. They would let her be angry for a while.

Bing did as she said and both men decided it would be best to let Ying cool off. They wandered off into the immortal forest together to see what else the squishy spirit beast could do while Ying decided to let off some steam by training even harder than before with only one hand.

* * *

Qing looked in wonder and complete amazement at the gifts she received from Jing. She just got done testing her new weapon and couldn't help but express her joy with a wide smile. Even her golden panda cub got something for itself from Jing. Butterflies of all sorts of colors were flying around the talented disciples and her new pet. Ni Xong, her pet panda, was running around trying to catch them with its new weapons.

These butterflies that were swarming around them wasn't just any group of butterflies. They were actually from her weapon she got from Jing. It looked like a giant iron fan. It was a shiny black fan when closed but when It was opened, a surplus of colors appeared on the inside of the fan. But if one was to take a closer look, they would notice that the colors seemed to move with life and grace. And if one was to take an even closer look, you could see that the entire fan was made up of living butterflies!

Qing's new weapon was a group of strange butterflies that mimicked the appearance of a giant iron fan! They could do a lot more than that though. It was such a fascinating and beautiful weapon that Qing could barely believe something like this existed! Who would ever think that there was a group of insects that could be used as a weapon!? Who knows just how many other miraculous species out there that could compete with something like this?

Ni Xong's weapon was more normal compared to her's. Two giant metal golden gloves that it could somehow lift even though it was still a baby. Qing just chalked it up to him being a mutant. Looking at the two weapons, of course Qing wondered how in the world did Jing possibly get ahold of these two things. If there was a group of bugs that could be used as weapons then why wouldn't there be other cultivators raising these bugs for themselves? It was impossible for Jing to be the only one to know of these insects...

Just what kind of person did she get herself involved with...?

'I still don't regret taking her hand back when I was about to pass on. In the past, I would rather kill myself than place myself under another but after my close experience with death... Jing and her grand ambition will only help me in what I wish to accomplish myself.' Qing thought.

Wan Qing suddenly turned around and focused her eyes on 3 figures hiding among the trees. If it wasn't for her new weapon, she wouldn't even have noticed them watching her. Somehow, the butterflies could communicate with her as well.

"Come out or I will force you out myself." She grabbed her fan and partially opened it.

The three slowly walked out and revealed themselves. They surely weren't any friends of hers and were people she wouldn't mind taking out herself. It was Ping, Shan, and Li Quang. They looked surprised at her being able to notice them but walked with confidence as they strolled up to her.

"So, you did manage to get your hand on the sky-ranked weapon..." Ping said with his voice laced with disgust and some jealousy.

"I guess that also explains why the golden panda cub is here as well. Where did you find those gloves? Was there another spirit weapon hidden inside the cave?" Li Qiang asked.

"A disgusting freak like you having weapons like that is only a waste. You should quickly hand them to us along with the mutant cub, if you know what's good for you." Shan threatened.

"So, this is why you're here? To rob me? Is that right?" Wan Qing asked to make sure.

"If you wish to keep your life, then it would be best to surrender them to us." Ping softly spoke with killing intent bearing down on Qing.

"Trying to steal from me? Maybe if you tried this during the hunt for the weapon you could've killed me but now, you won't even be able to touch me." Four butterfly wings made of qi appeared out of her back and she flew into the air.

Ni Xong ran and hid behind some trees as Wan Qing swung her fan down at the three cultivators. Ping was one stage above her, Li Qiang was at the 6th stage just like her, and Shan was one stage below her. Her fan generated powerful winds that forced both Shan and Li Qiang to be launched into the air. Ping kept himself from flying away by stabbing his feet into the earth that kept himself grounded. Li Qiang managed to hold onto a tree as the fierce winds continued to blow at them. Shan was unable to grab hold of anything and was sent flying through the skies above the giant trees in the Immortal Forest. Whether he'll be alive by the time he comes down is something no one could tell.

The winds died down and Ping leapt towards her with great speed and power. He was a body cultivator. One of the most unrefined type of cultivators in Qing's opinion but strength is strength no matter what it looks like. One of the harshest lessons Qing had to learn when she joined the sect was that strength is everything and face is second. You could be the biggest scum hypocrite in the world but if you had strength that no one could contend with, you were the one who was in the right and in control.

Qing easily flew out of the way of Ping's lunge but after fighting with him on more than a couple occasions, they've learned a few tricks from one another. Ping landed on a tree with his foot and jumped after Qing after she dodged his first grab. Knowing that Ping would just keep bouncing from tree to tree with his speed increasing after every bounce, Qing flew above the trees where there was nothing to bounce off from.

Ping was forced to land or he would be risking his life if he missed and fell from that great height. Li Qiang sent a qi slash from his sword towards Qing, forcing her to block with her fan or she could be split apart from it. Wan Qing swung her fan a second time, sending out numerous razor winds that sliced apart anything they touched! The branches on the trees, the trees themselves, the skin on Ping and Li Qiang's bodies, and caused several gashes in the earth below.

Ping clicked his tongue in annoyance. It would be impossible for a fighter like him to defeat Wan Qing in a situation like this. His best bet would be to throw something at him but he could just fly out of the way with those annoying wings. He was too hasty. He should've investigated Wan Qing in secret before planning out this ambush. It pissed him off but he would have to retreat and take Wan Qing's out another time.

Ping jumped towards Li Qiang and grabbed him before fleeing. Wan Qing let out a loud mocking laughter at the sight of the two retreating, just to rub salt into their wounds some more. She didn't even get to try out all the abilities of her new fan because of how quick the fight was. Maybe she'll get lucky and encounter Ping in the Plains. She won't let him escape from death then!

Ni Xong came out from behind the tree and looked at Wan Qing before running over and hugging her leg. Qing comforted the scared little boy and wondered how in the world was she going to train this little guy. If a fight like that was enough to send him running in fear it's going to be a while before he's ready to fight something. She doesn't have much time before the Treasured Plains open either...

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright lol bad news. Author has been slacking and these current chapters are catching up to the chapters in reserve. I think we're like 4 or 5 chapters away from what i've been writing and that's not good. I'm going to really have to kick it up and increase my writing speed these new few weeks or i might fall into the same slump as my Craftsman System story where I make the chapters on the day of release for them. That's not a good habit i believe for a writer to have and will try to avoid that at all costs, its just stressful and there's less time to edit and lookover the chapters for mistakes and continuity errors.

Besides that though next chapter on Monday we'll be with Jing! A fun little battle with her and Li Li.

I'm currently in the middle of writing the start of the Treasured Plains. I need some help with ideas guys. Like ideas for magical treasures, martial arts, and places to hide these treasures you've seen in other Xianxia stories. The ideas you listed won't be solely used by the main cast but if you feel like you have the perfect martial art or magical treasure for one of the casts type em and i might use em! I'll make sure to give credit if i do use your idea in the author note in which i use it.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	46. Jing Vs Wenling of the Wolfeng Gang!

Jing walked up the stairs to the ranking stage and timidly made her way towards the center of the stage. She locked eyes with her opponent before meekly looking away to avoid eye contact. Li Li on the other hand glared at Jing's female opponent who looked at her with a smirk. It looks like the sect is starting to rub off on him faster than she thought.

"That's a nice little bird you have there. You wouldn't mind giving him to me, would you?" Her opponent asked in a sensual manner, bending over slightly to bring attention to her tits.

The cultivator she was fighting against was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer, just like Li Li. She wore tight clothing that emphasized her body in a way that would cause both men and women to get excited just looking at her. Her hair was a deep shade of purple, something not regularly seen and rare enough to grab the attention of anyone for just a second. The way she walked and talked just oozed sexuality and eroticism. As if it was one with her being and not something she's choosing to do consciously. This was Wenling! The young cultivator that was in the Wolfen Gang and managed to rise to the tops of the gang with just her strength alone but some rumors suggest that she made it to the top with her body alone.

Jing already knew of Wenling. She had her followers investigate most of the Outer Court factions and the prominent members within those factions. It was quite unfortunate for her to face off against Wenling, she would have to lose this match. If she decided to win against her, the troubles she'll face from the Wolfeng Gang's retaliation would hinder her daily life unless she secretly kills them all. Removing an entire faction right under the sect's nose would be too big to hide. Some of their members have good talent and the elders wouldn't appreciate if someone got rid of these talents right under their noses. There would be an investigation to find out who culled all the wolves in Wolfeng Gang.

"I can't let you have him..." Jing spoke back.

"Oh, come on, he's just so cute. You just got to let me have him." She asked again.

"I'm sorry." Jing bowed her head and this is when Wenling decided to attack.

"Then just die for me instead!" She leapt towards Jing the second she bowed her head with her glaive ready to pierce right through her skull.

Li Li flew off and met Wenling's spear head on. His talons clashed against Wenling's glaive and sparks screeched from their weapons. Although initially frightened, Jing quickly got her head in the game and started to run around the ring placing talismans down. Jing made sure to tell Li Li to not go too far as she does plan to lose this match. Li Li could single handedly win this fight on his own but that isn't what Jing wanted.

Wenling saw what Jing's plan was in an instant and broke off her clash with Li Li immediately. She gathered qi within her throat and screamed at Li Li. The sonic shockwave made of qi launched Li Li far into the air as Wenling dashed towards Jing. With a worried and panicked look, Jing threw multiple talismans at the incoming spear wielder. Wenling wasn't like the other cultivators who looked down on her because of her looks, personality, or fighting style.

'Was it possible that this Seductress had a brain?' Jing wondered.

Wenling slashed apart any talismans coming at her, forcing Jing to use a movement spell and teleport across the ring. Wenling looked at her as Li Li returned back to her shoulder. She cut one of her formation slips in half, making Jing realize that she does have a brain. Maybe the rumors talking bad of her were just rumors after all. This was interesting to say the least...

Wenling ran towards her second formation talisman to get rid of and Jing sent Li Li to cut her off. While those two were engaging in a fierce battle, Jing got back to placing down more talismans for the formation she was trying to set up for Wenling. Unlike last time though where she just absentmindedly tried to place them down while Li Li was fighting, from time to time she threw talismans at Wenling. This allowed Li Li to get a few slashes on Wenling that ripped her clothing in certain places.

The crowd of young men watching this match starting cheering like wild animals when Wenling's bountiful breasts revealed themselves after Li Li's talon cut across the top of her outfit. They were all part of Wolfeng Gang and came to support one of their commanders. Shang Zhai was there as well with his group of fans that surrounded him. Shang's face turned red seeing the killer twin peaks. He turned his head to the side after a quick glance. His fans quickly started yelling death threats and insults at Wenling.

Wenling ignored the audience and used her arm to cover the bouncing melons. She could barely defend against Li Li's attacks now. His speedy claw strikes were starting to wear her down. Blood flowed from multiple places on Wenling's body from his talons but the cuts were only superficial, none of them were deep.

"Li Li! It's time!" Jing softly shouted.

Li Li stopped attacking Wenling and flew next to Jing's side. The attractive temptress looked around to see that Jing planted four talismans all around her. Jing slapped a conduit slip on her formation's base and threw the base in the sky. The floating dagger shined brightly as the formation activated and walls of qi trapped Wenling inside a box. The walls slowly started to close in and if she didn't find a way to escape, she'll be crushed flat by the walls of qi! The purple-haired beauty roughly fixed her clothes before unleashing strike after strike upon the walls of the formation. Her skill with the glaive wasn't as low as Jing thought.

The flowing strikes of that glaive was like watching a fearsome dragon flying through the heavenly skies undaunted by any enemy with its mighty strength and majestic appearance.

"Draconic Thrust!" Wenling's glaive was covered in her qi and took the form of an actual dragon!

She used both of her hands and all of her power to pierce straight through the barrier and towards Jing herself! Her glaive struck against the formation's barrier and caused countless ripples to appear all over it.

"Dragon's Fury!" Wenling flipped her spear backwards before using it to slash upward and slice an opening through the formation's walls.

Jing nervously backed away as the determined fighter continued to break apart her formation. Fear began to take her and it was easily noticeable on her face and movements. Wenling roared at the opening and the formation started crumbling all around. It cracked piece by piece before shattering into nothingness along with the formation talismans that burnt into ash. Jing backed herself all the way towards the edge of the stage. Wenling dashed at her with her glaive in hand.

'Now is the time...' Jing thought as her opponent was right in front of her face ready to attack.

Jing's foot reached past the edge of the stage and she tumbled off the ring.

"HAHAHAHA! SHE FUCKING FELL LIKE A DUMB ASS!"

"BWAHAHAHA DID SHE PISS HERSELF OUT OF FEAR TOO!?"

"COME ON! OUR DRAGON PRINCESS ISN'T THAT SCARY IS SHE!?"

The Wolfeng Gang members in the audience laughed at Jing's embarrassing defeat. They would've continued to insult her if it wasn't for Shang Zhai shutting them all up with his killing intent. This also frightened the girls around him. They wondered if it was true that Zhai was really in love with such a girl? It was getting hard to ignore the reality of such a thought as time went on. Jing looked embarrassed at herself and ashamed for thinking that she could put up a fight against someone at the 9th stage.

"You're not so bad for someone at the 3rd stage. I really had to work up a sweat in that match." Wenling sat on the edge of the ring.

She crossed her legs and had a small smile on her face.

"It isn't often that I find another female cultivator that interests me. What would you say to joining me in the Wolfeng Gang as my apprentice?" Wenling suddenly asked.

While Jing does find herself interested in Wenling, she wouldn't say it's to the point where she wants to work under her. But what would the Jing whose she's acting like right now say to this offer? A girl whose timid, shy, and has no friends or companions besides her spirit beast. A girl with the drive to succeed as a cultivator and become someone truly powerful and not weak. A girl who wants to become someone that would put her current self to shame. Plus, Wenling is quite strong and is smarter than the rumors surrounding her would suggest.

'I guess I can use this opportunity to eliminate the Fearsome Garden and Huan clan before taking over the Wolfeng Gang for myself. Maybe I can also get a taste of this Wenling for myself as well... Her strong personality and confidence is quite a turn on. Seeing her placed in a submissive state will be exciting...'

"I don't know if I should... Would you really want someone like me...?" Jing twiddled her fingers shyly.

"If you're worried about anyone bullying you, don't worry. I will protect you from anyone hoping to touch my apprentice. I will also make sure you have as many resources that you may need."

"Why are you being so nice to me...? Today is the first day we ever met each other." Jing asked.

"I think you're cute."

"Huh?!" Jing's cheeks blushed a bright red.

"Yes, I think you're cute. In the Wolfeng Gang, we aren't ones to be hesitant in our desires. If we want something, we will aim for it with all our strength. I want you Jing. I want to see what kind of cultivator you can become with my help. Not just any 3rd stage Qi Gatherer can capture my attention you know?" She popped a recovery pill in her mouth.

"I don't think I'll be able to live up to your expectations but I'll try my best...!" Jing cutely looked into Wenling's eyes with determination.

"Hey! Wait a second! Wenling, you sneaky slut!" A short beauty shouted as she stomped her way over towards Jing and Wenling.

This short beauty was Song from the Fearsome Garden's Three Roses. She had the looks of a young child but the heavenly appearance of a princess. Her hair was styled in a bun that helped paint the picture of her looking like a young child. Song was also a 9th stage Qi Gatherer like Wenling and it looked as if they had a history together. Or Song just insulted her because that's her personality.

"Excuse me? I think someone lost their child, can someone find her parents for her before she starts crying?" Wenling said with fake concern.

"Piss off you Cow!" Song insulted.

"Are you jealous?" Wenling propped up her breasts with her arms.

"There is more to a woman's charms than her chest!" She growled.

"When have you ever charmed anyone?"

"Do you want to die today whore?!" Song clinched her fist.

"I'd like to see you try kid..."

One of the two women behind Song tapped the young princess on her shoulder.

"Miss Song... We came here for her... not to get in a fight with Wolfeng Gang. Plus their group is staring at us from the stands. If this does lead to a fight, we would not come out on top necessarily..." She whispered. Hearing this only made Song even more pissed off. She almost knocked the head off of the girl who warned her as if she didn't know that!

"You!" Song pointed at Jing.

"Yes?!" Jing squeaked in fear.

"Join us instead!"

"Huh?!"

"You're after my apprentice just after I recruited her? Do you have no shame?!" Wenling

"The Fearsome Garden will help any woman who asks for it! Our group is here to help all the girls inside the sect feel safe and cultivate in peace."

"That's funny. Last time I checked, your group was filled with a bunch of girls who wanted nothing more than to rule over men and grouped up because you were all too weak to protect yourselves." She egged on Song more, just waiting for her to explode.

"As I was saying...! Joining our group will definitely be better than joining Wolfeng Gang. That group is full of nothing but rapists, murderers, and animals. Their group is commonly known as the Bandit Gang! The Fearsome Garden is known as the most beautiful faction within the sect and filled with only the fairest and most respected cultivators in the sect."

Jing looked at Wenling and then at Song, showing her unease at the sudden realization that she might be joining a group full of awful people.

"Is that true...?" Jing asked Wenling.

"Yes. Nothing she said about the Wolfeng Gang was wrong. Our group does hold rapists, murderers, and animals with the skin of humans."

"I don't think I'm cut out for a group like that..."

"If you're worried about your safety, then you have nothing to fear. If anyone tries to lay their hands on my apprentice, I'll personally cut their hands off and shove them down their throats." Wenling smiled.

"In our group, you don't have to be worried about your safety at all!" Song quickly spoke up.

"I will give you resources that the Fearsome Garden wouldn't even think about giving to you. Since you'll be my apprentice, you'll only have the best."

"It might take some time but if you prove your worth to the group, the resources you receive won't be any less than her's!" Song desperately spoke.

"She's forgetting to add that the only way you can prove your worth is to be talented or have connections. With me, I don't care about your talent. As long as you don't betray me, I'll take care of you."

"Shut up you slut! You don't know anything!" Song exploded and tried to punch Wenling, who blocked with her spear.

"See. Look at how violent and small-minded she is. She's one of the commanders of Fearsome Garden and she behaves like an uncontrolled child. She probably doesn't even care about you and is only here because her leader told her to be here." She gestured with her hand towards the Wolfeng Gang members in the stands to not help.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Song's qi exploded in an icy blast.

Wenling's qi became sharper and more focused as she agilely avoided the destructive punches of Song.

"Please stop fighting...!" Jing weakly yelled. "I decided who I wanted to join..."

Wenling and Song broke off their clash and slid an equal distance from each other. They both looked at her with their 9th stage qi unrestrained.

"I decided to join the Wolfeng Gang." Jing announced.

Wenling smirked.

"God damn it!" Song cursed. "You will regret this Jing! The entire Fearsome Garden is now your enemy for the choice you made today!" She turned around and stormed off with the two women.

Jing had a worried look on her face and Wenling hugged her from behind.

"You have nothing to worry about. I told you didn't I? I'll protect my apprentice." Li Li kept her face away from Jing's with his foot when she tried to put her face close to Jing's.

* * *

Author's Note: I just fucking noticed that I added another –ing in the group by accident! Jing, Bing, Ying, and now Qing! I swear you guys this isn't on purpose and I'm not trying to make a funny here. I use a chinese name generator to make up the names for these characters and it just so happened that these 4 similar ending names ended up in the main characters' spot.

Besides that though I don't have much to say about this chapter. There was a cool fight, an interesting development, possibly some sexual tension, and yeah. Next chapter on Friday, we'll be with a few persons of fates.


	47. The Lives of the Blessed Ones

Xun Liuxian was cultivating inside his home to prepare himself for the upcoming Treasured Plains. Xun was pissed after seeing Tang Wuying's battle against his senior and seeing him come out on top. He knew that he stood no chance against Tang with that strange spirit weapon on him. His Ancient Immortal's Lung that fused with his lungs were powerful and granted him several benefits but it still wasn't enough to thoroughly humiliate Tang and kill him. The most optimistic outcome Xun could see from challenging Tang right now was a pyrrhic victory with them both dying.

But even that wasn't something Xun was sure to happen if they fought right now. His master couldn't even identify the rank of Tang's spirit weapon during the battle. That means it had to be higher than earth rank. Master Zhong also said that he wasn't gifted that weapon by his master either. So, Tang must have had a lucky encounter during one of his tasks outside the sect.

The only way Xun could try and compete with Tang now was if he had his own spirit weapon or tool at the sky rank. And his only chance at stumbling upon one of those was in the Treasured Plains. His deep-seated grudge against Tang Wuying has ran into a few issues but he has time. His talent will continue to increase the longer the Ancient God's Lungs stay within his body. His talent was low when he first joined but as of now it's already able to compete with the geniuses from renowned clans!

But that bastard also had great talent, it would be a while before his speed in cultivation completely outclasses Tang's. Xun's main goal right now was to find a sky-ranked spirit weapon or tool that could aid him in combat. Once he finds that, he could finally match Tang in combat strength. His master isn't any lesser than Tang's own. Their battle will come... and Xun will get his revenge on Tang for getting him killed back then and then he will move on to annihilate his entire lineage to prevent any further troubles that arises afterwards.

"Brother Liuxian, are you home?" He heard a familiar voice softly ask from outside his door.

Xun opened the door to see Xiao Hong standing outside of it.

"Yes, I am. Do you need something?" He asked expressionlessly.

It must be known that Xiao Hong wasn't just any average cultivator! Xiao Hong was a genius! Someone far above Xun Liuxian in terms of popularity, talent, and background! If anyone saw him treating her like a normal person and not someone to be praised and admired by all, they would say he has shit for brains and deserves to be crippled for his lack of respect! This was Xiao Hong, the Ice Queen of the Golden Serpent Sect! One of the top ten beauties within the sect and a very talented cultivator. She even unlocked a part of her bloodline, the Ice Giant bloodline!

Everyone in the Hong family that has unlocked their bloodline are guaranteed to become someone significant throughout the continent! No matter if they were male or female! The Hong family has become a great force because of this powerful bloodline of theirs and no one dares disrespects any member of the Hong family! Or they would be courting death by ice!

"I wish to spar with you to test my current skills. Is that fine with you?" She asked quietly with a faint red blush on her face.

"That's fine with me, Sister Xiao. I must ask though, why did you choose me as your sparring partner?" Xun asked curiously.

Her cheeks got redder.

"You are strong Martial Brother Liuxian and I know you won't go easy on me just because of who I am."

Xun looked at the ground with a faint smile before saying, "I'm not strong at all..." He looked back up at Xiao and told her to follow him into his yard. Since it was just a friendly spar there was no need to head to the rings. A spar is mostly used to test one's martial art techniques and see how your opponent will respond to them. Most will respond back with their own martial arts but if they don't and are forced to dodge or take it head on, then the spar will conclude after one side cannot keep up or both show everything, they are willing to show.

Xiao and Xun stood an equal distance from each other.

"I shall be going first if you don't mind Martial Brother." She did a small bow and Xun watched her as she floated towards him on frozen snowflakes.

She stepped on the air by using the self-made snowflakes as platforms. It was an interesting movement art in Xun's opinion. It would be hard for one to chase after her when she was using that at full speed. She could run all the way in the air and the only way for anyone to touch her would be with a bow or a spirit tool that could hit from far away. And not many cultivators use ranged weapons or are lucky enough to find spirit tools that can be used offensively at a distance.

Xiao used her bloodline ability and materialized a flawless sword made of ice. She then dove straight down towards Xun with the frosty blade. Xun breathed in the air around him and blew it onto his fists. The air seemingly solidified onto his hands into a pair of gloves and with a single strike from his punch, he could contend with Xiao's ice sword! Xiao wasn't shocked as she expected this much out of the boy who caught her attention but could he react to her next move!?

Xiao's sword suddenly grew an icicle from its center and it lengthened in size before heading straight for Xun's heart! An icicle of that size going at that speed would be able to skewer nearly anything! What a fierce sneaky attack! However, the calm look on Xun Liuxian's face didn't change in the slightest despite the sharp blade seemingly about to pierce right through him. He used the back of his fist with his other hand and shattered the icicle into pieces before thrusting his palm out at Xiao.

A strong blast of wind shot out of his palm and knocked right into Xiao's figure. This caused her to shatter into pieces!?

"Huh?" Xun reacted slightly surprised.

Another Xiao appeared right behind the air weaver and grabbed onto him from behind with a freezing embrace! Ice began to form on Xun's body and if he didn't somehow free himself from his opponent's grip, he would become an ice statue!

'That was an impressive move she pulled off.' Xun complimented.

He was totally fooled! He didn't even know when she made that ice clone and thought it was the real her the entire time. She must have been training hard. But this spar wasn't over yet, he still had a couple more moves to show. The ice has spread all the way down to his legs to his chest. He started to suck in a large amount of air before blowing it out into the air and forming a giant fist made of air that headed straight for him and Xiao.

Xiao retreated in the face of that technique and Xun allowed himself to be hit by his own move. The ice that was freezing him immediately broke apart from the power of his fist and he could move freely again. The chill of the ice on his skin was biting but now it was time to show off his moves in this spar. The wind cultivator stomped the ground beneath him, creating a small gust of wind that spun around him. Xiao prepared herself for whatever attack he was about to do and nearly let out a gasp as he stepped onto the gust of wind and starting riding it towards her!

She almost couldn't defend herself from Liuxian's attack because of how fast it came! Her ice sword shattered from his punch, forcing her to cover herself in her own ice to defend against his attacks! Xiao could feel the ice protecting her, shattering from every punch from Brother Liuxian. If things continued this way, it would quickly lead to her defeat!

Xiao channeled her ice qi into her hands. She took one of Liuxian's powerful punches as a way to escape into the air. It was painful but it was her only way out of his attacks! No one else would allow her to feel that much pain within the sect due to her background. They were too afraid but Liuxian didn't care at all who she was! Even when they first met, he treated her no differently than he would treat someone else. It was the first time someone has treated her like a normal person...

Her cheeks flushed again as she fired a beam of ice qi towards the air manipulator. If anyone else saw this sight, it would only reinforce Xiao Hong's image as a genius! She has yet to step into the Qi Consolidation realm yet she can use qi attacks from a distance! Only those at the Qi Consolidation realm and above can attack with ranged qi techniques!

The air around Xun started to freeze and solidify, quickly taking away how much air he could use to move around. It wouldn't be long till that beam caught up to him and froze him as well! He used some of the stored qi-infused air within his lungs and shot off towards Xiao in a spiral! His fist was outstretched and posed like a drill ready to bore straight through Xiao! Xiao couldn't hope to react to a move as fast as this! He blew air out of his mouth with such strength that he was sent flying towards Xiao with speed that was hard to track!

Xiao concentrated her ice beam into one point just as Liuxian's fist was about to drill right through her. The ice qi channeling in her hands exploded with great force, unleashing a powerful flash freezing ice shockwave that spread out enveloping both of them. A bright white flash appeared from Xiao's attack and temporarily blinded the secret viewer of this little spar.

"My eyes! I can't see!" The little watcher cried out in pain.

He stumbled off while rubbing his eyes to report this situation to Tang Wuying without seeing the aftermath. He's already saw enough and could safely tell Tang about Xun's courting of his woman behind his back. He was also a little frightened if he continued to watch their spar, he would somehow get hit by one of their stray martial art moves. Reporting back to Tang Wuying was important but his life was even more important!

If Tang's henchman stayed around a bit longer, he would've saw something even more incriminating than before. Something that would've sent Tang Wuying off in such a rage that he would've marched straight to Xun's home to kill him himself! He would've saw Xiao Hong embracing Xun Liuxian as a mystical fall of snow rained around them both. Her face was blushed a deep red and Xun's own face was slightly red at such a dangerous position. The two stayed silent as their bodies warmed one another's and their hearts slowly grew closer.

"Sorry...! I should get up now..." Xiao apologized softly.

Xun wrapped his arm around her back to stop her.

"I don't mind... if you don't, Xiao." Xun suddenly whispered. Letting his emotions run wild. Emotions that have been suppressed and buried by his overwhelming hatred and lust for revenge against Tang Wuying.

That whisper was like a lightning strike to Xiao's heart. Should she stay like this a little longer? Brother Liuxian was fine with it and she wanted to embrace him even more than this. No, no, no this isn't good for her heart. Xiao's heart felt like it was going to explode if this continued any longer, she shot up from Liuxian's amazing muscled chest and abs then stood up to dust off her outfit.

"Thank you for the spar Martial Brother Liuxian! I will be going now!" She dashed off with the speed of a Pigmy Tailed Hog.

Xun stayed on the ground in the same position from earlier. His thoughts were all over the place. He hasn't really given much thought to anything else besides getting stronger and killing Tang Wuying. Ever since he came back from the dead in that forest, those were the only two things on his mind. But... that moment just now with Xiao has caused him to think about just more than his two goals. Maybe after he deals with the Wuying family, he could perhaps find another reason to keep living...

* * *

"Have you killed him yet?" Elder Suyin asked.

"No Ma'am. We would need to hire an assassin that's vastly stronger than Hu Tao." A cultivator bowed.

"Aunt Suyin... There's no need to hire an assassin... I'll get stronger on my own and avenge Shen with my own power. I'm going to start taking my training seriously and kill Hu Tao with my own hands." Meili promised with all her heart.

Suyin was surprised as she looked into the eyes of her niece. Those eyes were completely unlike the carefree and innocent eyes she's had before. If she was being honest, she would say Meili is a completely different girl now. Despite how much hate her niece has for this Hu Tao character, Suyin was actually quite thankful towards him... Now with this change she went through, Meili is fit to be seen as the patriarch's daughter and with a little more guidance from herself, she'll be able to lead their glorious clan into prosperity!

"I'm here for you every step of the way Meili." She rubbed her head.

* * *

Bo Fai was pacing back and forth through his house. Everything is changing! The past isn't going the same way it was last time!

'Is it because I've taken the heaven-ranked spirit tool, Phoenix's core? Is that why everything is spiraling out of control? My knowledge of the future is quickly waning. There never was a Hu Tao in my past. Did he die before his prime? Then how is it that he's alive now? I would've known of such a terrible and powerful cultivator if he was alive in my past.'

Bo calmed himself down. He almost died when he was just reincarnated into his past self! Who knows if he could ever get a chance like this a second time? He wasn't going to ruin that by dying to sudden and hidden threats like Hu Tao ever again. The opening of the Treasured Plains is something he can't afford to miss out on. Too many cultivators rose to prominence from gaining sky-ranked and heaven-ranked objects from this formation. Now it will be his chance to gain those valuable martial arts and magical treasures for himself.

An Earthly Immortal like himself is already indebted to someone. How embarrassing is this... It might not have been long since he's reincarnated but a person of his realm should not have lost to someone like that! Bo was deeply ashamed of himself for losing to Hu Tao, an upstart brat that wasn't even done weening milk from his mother! His body might not be able to handle his sky-ranked martial arts yet but he still shouldn't have been overtaken by that brat!

Just what was that power hidden in those chains? Bo Fai has never seen anything like that in his thousands of years of living. He has seen various lightning spirit tools and martial arts but none of them could dare compete with the spirit weapon held by that boy. It was like the god of lightning was hiding within those chains. He would have to kill that scum before he understands just how powerful that weapon is and take it for himself. Bo Fai has a lot to do during the opening of the Treasured Plains...

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ah man... To think there are still some of the persons of fates that i haven't explored upon except briefly. I'm really having trouble trying to get into the mind of that one xianxia protagonist that makes trouble with any group and everyone but somehow always gets lucky, always gets on the good side of women even though he's the type of guy who would flirt with any good looking women, always makes trouble with males by being better than them or hitting on "their" women or just not caring about them at all. Its like the protagonist from that one xianxia with a system. He transmigrate into this trash prince's body and then gets a system, sees a girl peeing, and then robs some sects treasury. He's the perfect personality for this person of fate i'm thinking. I'll have to reread that story or something.

Anyway besides my little tangent, this chapter isn't really anything much. Just a little bit more exploration of the world this story takes place in without focusing on the main group. These won't be going anytime soon because i enjoy it when other authors expand upon the universe of their world. I want to get better at it and to get better at something you have to keep doing it! There are other factors too but this is getting pretty long.

Next chapter on Monday, we'll be at the prologue before the opening of the Treasured Plains!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	48. The Plains Are About To Start!

It was time! The time was here! All the disciples in the Golden Serpent Sect was here waiting in front of the giant sealed gates of the Treasured Plains. Most, if not all of the elders were here as well. Many were finally looking forward to seeing the Sect Master's face but their excitement over the many treasures inside the Plains was even higher. The towering gates were over forty meters tall and forty meters wide. It was gold in color and shined brightly from the sun's ray on it.

"Hello everyone. I am Wan Qing. Nice to meet you all. This is Ni Xong." Wan did a respectful bow with her cub towards her new allies. Wan was actually quite nervous for a change. She hasn't felt like this since she's joined the sect way back then. Would they accept her or would she be shunned and rejected like usual?

"Hello." Bing greeted back while thinking about how Jing knew how to pick the strangest of folks. A guy that wants to be a girl? But also, a super talented cultivator!? Bing hoped that his good luck would finally surface when the gates opened.

"Hey." Ying roughly replied with her arms crossed. She didn't care about Wan's circumstances. It was unusual sure but whatever. If he wanted to be a girl then who's to stop him? It's his choice. Ying would dare someone to try and stop her from making a decision about herself.

"Nice to meet you." Lei Zhi peacefully smiled. Wan Qing looked like a nice enough person. It's going to take some time getting used to referring to him as a girl rather than boy but he can get used to it. Those too stubborn to change their ways won't be able to grow in a meaningful way. An individual should always be seeking to broaden their minds or they'll be as ignorant as beasts.

"Are you even strong?" Hu Tao sniffed Wan Qing while circling around him. He certainly smelled like a girl.

"What?"

"I said! Are you even worth caring about?! These little shits behind me all have potential to give me a good fight in the future, but do you? I don't know shit about you except that you wanna be treated like a girl."

"Hmph. Do you think a 2nd stage Qi Consolidator like yourself is strong enough to talk to me like that? Know your place fool! Do you think cultivation stages are just meaningless numbers?" Qing blasted her qi aura unrestrained right towards Hu Tao.

Hu Tao smiled, maybe this fucker wasn't as worthless as he thought. But this wasn't enough, this asshole barely reached up to the Princess.

"When we get into the Plains, you're mine."

"Hahaha! Hu Tao is feeling threatened now that he is no longer the one with the highest cultivation stage." Ying laughed with joy.

"Shut the hell up Fire Bush. You think I'd be threatened by this sissy?!"

"That's what it looks like to me." Ying mocked as she put her arm around Wan's shoulder. "When we get in the Plains, kick his ass for us. The asshole deserves it!" Ying laughed.

"Oi Ying, you fucking bitch, whose side are you on?!" Hu Tao shouted as Ying suddenly punched towards his face.

"Who are you calling a bitch!?" Hu Tao dodged her punch and laughed as she chased after him with even more strikes.

"This is why I like you Ying. You aren't afraid even though you're outmatched!" Hu Tao cheerfully said.

"I'll show you outmatched bastard!" Just as Ying was about to barely miss Hu Tao's body once again, she ignited herself and increased her speed. This surprise attack allowed her to finally dig her fist into Hu Tao's stomach and shut that annoying mouth of his up.

Hu Tao was almost sent flying straight into the crowd of disciples surrounding them but thankfully Bing caught Hu Tao before he could crash into anyone and brought him back to their group. The wild fighter had a nasty burn on his flawless abs but the grin on his face made it seem like it wasn't anything at all.

"You keep that shit up and I might fall in love with you too, Princess." Hu Tao coughed blood.

"Disgusting." She smirked, satisfied about getting a good hit on the evasive bastard.

"You guys really know how to bring a crowd..." Bing muttered as everyone's eyes were focusing in on their little group.

"Is it usually like this?" Wan asked Bing.

"With those two, yes. We're more like a band of mercenaries that are all working for our own goals but with no pay and barely any cooperation." Bing relayed to Qing.

"I'm pretty sure the Wolfeng Gang is more organized than this and we don't even have half as many people as them." Wan Qing noted.

"Ah well, I heard that might be changing soon actually." Lei Zhi said.

"What are you talking about Lei?" Ying asked.

"Jing said she'll be sending us out on special tasks and when we complete them, we'll be rewarded."

"Rewarded with what?" Hu Tao asked.

"Well, whatever we ask for. She said after the job is done, we can request for spirit stones, pills, herbs, weapons, and even martial arts."

"Haha nice! If its Jing, she could probably give me a mystic flame!" Ying excitedly said.

"That's true... The Empress could also give me a good cultivation technique as well. She was able to find this amazing shield martial art for me, so a cultivation technique can't be too out of range for her." Bing murmured.

"Shield martial art? Does that even exist?" Wan questioned.

"Apparently." Bing shared her disbelief.

"Oh yeah, that fucking reminds me. Jing said you all have missions of your own in the Plains." Hu Tao scratched his hair.

"What!? Why didn't she tell us!?" Ying asked.

"She told me to tell you. I just forgot about it until today." Hu Tao said without a care in the world.

"You shitty bastard! Is fighting all you can think about!? I bet you're still thinking about fighting Qing aren't you?!" Ying stomped her foot.

"Hah... you could tell? Damn that's embarrassing." Hu Tao laughed.

"SERIOUSLY! JUST DIE ALREADY!" Ying lifted her giant sword and held it above Hu Tao.

"Ah, wait a second Ying. Let him tell us about our tasks before you do something you might regret." Bing spoke up.

"Regret!? I never regret anything!"

"But this is a mission from the Empress. If we don't accomplish it, what kind of punishment do you think she will issue out for us?"

'Empress?' Wan Qing was confused by why Bing called Jing, Empress.

A shiver ran through Ying's body as she remembered the terrifying presence of Jing's qi. She huffed angrily and put her sword back down. Ying motioned for Hu Tao to hurry up and tell them their missions.

"That's more like it, Princess. You should be glad I remembered her telling me at all." Hu Tao acted smug.

"Quit running your lips and just tell us already!"

"Nah, I don't think so." Hu Tao teased.

"What is your problem?! Are you so messed up in the head that you can't act like a normal person!?"

"I'll tell you guys after I get my fight with the sissy."

"I'll give you a fight that'll make you wish to never fight again!"

"Wouldn't that be the dream..." Hu Tao chuckled.

"Ying. I think its best if we just give up. No amount of words is going to change his mind and you know it. Even if you did fight him in place of Qing, he'll still want to fight Qing himself. I mean herself, sorry." Bing reasoned.

"It's fine." Wan said.

"Damn shitty bastard... Nobody bother me until the gate is open." Ying took a squat on the ground and started cultivating her anger off. A flame-like aura surrounded her body as she sat on the ground, warming anyone near her.

Wan Qing was starting to have slight doubts about joining Jing's group...

* * *

Tang Wuying and Gong Jun stood side by side. Tang's giant boomerang was now one of the easiest ways of identifying him out of a crowd. His yellow arrow tattoos being the second easiest way of picking him out. Tang Wuying stood with an arrogant look on his face while Gong had an innocent smile on his. The two of them have started to get along with each other after their battle.

They no longer look down on each other and now treat each other as equals. Although secretly, they still believe themselves to be superior to the other. Openly, they don't mind being compared. Spending months training with one another and their Third Senior has gotten them closer. Tang and Gong even planned to travel together during the Treasured Plains.

"Are you excited Tang?" Gong asked.

"Don't ask stupid questions." Tang responded.

"Ah, are you looking for him? I heard quite a few juicy rumors surrounding him and Xiao Hong." Gong teased.

"Shut up! Don't remind me of those overblown rumors. I'll kill that bastard myself and show Xiao that her only choice is me and me alone. Cheating will never be allowed."

"Cheat? But Junior Brother, you haven't even asked her out. How can you say she cheated when you aren't her boyfriend?"

"She knows I've been courting her ever since we met each other in my city and now she'll just get involved with any random trash? I'll have to remind her just who is trying to court her."

"Hmm... I see. Are you sure that he's trash though? If someone of Xiao Hong's standard is interested in someone, then surely, they wouldn't be lacking in any capacity, right?"

"Unless she's interested in someone on par with First Senior in talent, then no matter who it is, they won't stand a chance against me." Tang boasted confidently.

"Let's hope so Tang, life tends to throw surprises at you every now and then." Gong advised. He himself had learned this lesson after his defeat to Tang.

"Hmph. What about that Kang idiot? I heard he's been getting quite close to Liu Lan." Tang mentioned.

"You don't need to worry about my problems Junior Brother. I already plan to deal with Fu Kang." Gong smiled with killing intent flaring from his body.

"Who said I was worried?! Don't assume such preposterous assumptions! Idiot."

"Haha no need to get embarrassed Junior Brother. I'm glad you're thinking about others."

"I'll think about hitting you upside the head if you don't shut up!" This response only made Gong laugh even harder.

* * *

"Hu Tao... Just wait. I'll be sure to kill you in revenge for Shen..." Meili promised as she stood by herself.

Meili was given plenty of life-saving talismans and treasures by her aunt before being allowed to go into the Treasured Plains alone. Her aunt wanted to get multiple guards around her but she refused. How could she grow stronger if she's being coddled? Her father said that the strong can't fear hardship and neither will she! She plans to deal with Hu Tao during the Treasured Plains and if anyone gets in her way, she'll knock them down as well!

Meili was confident in dealing with the fatty, the old man, and the sword girl but the panda girl was out of her power. She'd have to wait to find Hu Tao alone before trying to strike him. It looks like he has allies somehow. They must be as terrible as he is if they're willing to be friends with him.

'Maybe I should take them out as well...' Meili pondered.

* * *

The Huan clan, Fearsome Garden, and Wolfeng Gang all stood near one another. The leaders of the clans met and glared into the others' eyes. Leng Huan smirked arrogantly, Meihu smiled sweetly with daggers hidden behind her eyes, and Jianyu grinned in amusement.

Leng Huan was a handsomely talented disciple. Leng had long flowing flawless black hair that fell all the way to the middle of his back. His physique was average but his aura was majestic. If he was to show off his face and talent more, he would surely have a fan club like some of the other disciples. But Leng rarely showed himself in public. He preferred to stay hidden in the shadows and command his clan from the dark.

Meihu looked like the exact opposite of what you'd expect from being the leader of the Fearsome Garden. The faction with the most beautiful women in any group. She was secretly known as the Pig Mistress of the Outer Court and it wasn't for no reason. Meihu had the face, body, and strength of a terrifying boar! She was among the top disciples within the Outer Court whose physical strength was nearly unmatchable. But it wasn't just her strength that allowed her to become the leader of such a well-running group. It was her cleverness and resourceful mind! She may have resembled a pig outwardly but on the inside, she was as intelligent as a shrew.

Jianyu had two beautiful young women around his arms. His large wild jet-black colored hair complemented his strong physique. His body was much larger than the typical cultivator with layers of muscle all over his body. His shirt was ripped open like a vest, revealing his chiseled and bronze abs for anyone to lay their eyes on.

"I hope you don't think that your clan is going to come out of this with more treasures than anyone else." Meihu said.

"I do think that Meihu. I don't see how you're going to be able to stop us either."

"Strength isn't everything in the Treasured Plains! Luck is a big factor as well. The deeper you head into the Plains, the more dangerous it gets. So, it doesn't matter if you're a Qi Consolidator, luck is the only thing you can count on!"

"Don't underestimate my clan so much. Even though I won't be in the Outer Plains, that doesn't mean my clan won't be able to handle your factions."

"Gahahahaha! You two fuckers are just hilarious!" Jianyu laughed loudly.

"What's so funny Bandit?" Meihu asked.

"The way the Treasured Plains is set up is perfect for my gang's style! And if you can't see that now, then just wait till the Plains is over." Jianyu left laughing loudly with the two women in his arms giggling along.

"Want to focus the Wolfeng Gang first?" Meihu asked.

"Sounds good to me." Leng agreed.

* * *

Jing's head was violently assaulted by numerous dings from her system. She somewhat expected this sudden influx of missions based on the last time she went through something like this. It was like when she was taking the recruitment test for the sect. She could complete a large amount of missions for rewards.

**[Mission ****available**** for host!]**

**[Don't get killed and survive till the end!]**

**[Rewards: 5 Epic Tickets]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Use SCP-109 to kill 100 beings! Additional rewards will be given every 100+ beings killed with SCP-109]**

**[Rewards: 5 Rare Ticket, 1 High-ranked Spirit Stone, Purifying Qi Pill]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Let 100 cultivators witness SCP-109's anomalous properties!]**

**[Rewards: 5 rare tickets, Body Strengthening Pill]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[****Find a way to strengthen the ****Wolfeng**** Gang till they can match the Huan Clan in strength!]**

**[Rewards: 10 Rare Tickets, Berserker's Rage (Earth-ranked Cultivation manual)]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[Take over the ****Wolfeng**** Gang and destroy the Fearsome Garden and Huan Clan by the end of the Grand Tournament.]**

**[Requirements:** **Bing must be the one who deals the final blow to Leng Huan, Bing must be gifted an SCP before taking Leng Huan on, you nor Li ****Li**** are allowed to personally fight or kill any of the top brass members of any groups or a severe penalty will be placed upon the host.]**

**[Rewards: 5 Epic Tickets, Refining the Heavens (Sky-ranked Pill refining manual), Green-Eyed Angel's Bloodline (Pills)]**

**[Mission available for host!]**

**[****Increase the loyalty of one other ally to 100% before the end of the Treasured Plains.]**

**[Reward: SCP-1331]**

* * *

Author's Note: Wanted to use this chapter to introduce some of the key players of this event. Next chapter we'll have a bit more and maybe the gate will actually open. Its either next chapter or the chapter after that when we actually get inside the Treasured Plains.

Wan Qing has finally be introduced to the group. I hope it went as well as you all expected for their first meeting if not, then don't worry! There will be plenty more situations inside the Plains where their personalities can be explored together.

Oh yeah! I might be planning on reducing the word count and increasing the release days to 3 a week instead of the current 2 a week. Most of the chapters I put out at minimum are 2.5k words every chapter on Mon and Fri. What I plan on doing is changing that to 1.5k words every Fri Sat Sun. I was wondering if you guys would want the release days so close together or have them spread out like on Mon Wed and Fri?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	49. The Treasured Plains Have Opened!

'Hm. Nice. Tickets are always useful.' Jing thought.

Jing mentally looked at all her missions available. It looks like survival might be harder than expected if the system is willing to give out 5 epic tickets for her to come out alive. Epic tickets were 1 rank below legendary tickets, the highest ranking of tickets that the system even has. It turns out that this was going to turn out more exciting than she thought it would. She might even be challenged by someone or something that will be able to provide a bit more resistance. That'll be worth looking forward to.

Using SCP-109 to kill and let others be aware of the its strangeness. This wouldn't be too hard to do, Jing would just have to find a way to get away from the Wolfeng Gang for some time to have a little fun. SCP-109 worked extremely well with her current martial arts. Jing has to use her qi as a medium for the water she creates but with SCP-109's anomalous abilities that process is basically halved! SCP-109 is a container filled with water inside. The water inside is seemingly filled with an infinite amount of water that never runs out. This water can also provide small beneficial effects for living lifeforms.

Now the mission where she has to strengthen the Wolfeng Gang is somewhat interesting. Is it because the mission after it is telling her to take over the group or is it because she allied herself with them temporarily? How the system decided what missions to give her was confusing. The system didn't talk anymore and she had trouble trying to understand the motives behind the system for giving these missions to her. Sometimes it was in her favor and gave her missions to things she was already going to do while other times it seemed completely random.

Jing understood that the system or the divine being behind the system wanted her to deal with these blessed people by using her system. As of now Hu Tao, Wan Qing, and Bing needed to deal with their opponents with an SCP gifted from her to then. Bing's opponent, Leng Huan, wasn't confirmed to be a Person of Fate but the system still wanted her to gift Bing an SCP before he could deal with him, hinting to her that Leng might have a secret that no one knows about. Her system is called the SCP system, so perhaps it just wanted to bring more SCP's into this world... She couldn't tell.

Jing would have to see if there anyone else she wants to use within the Wolfeng Gang before deciding to make them stronger. Right now, there is only Wenling that she plans to use temporarily. During the Treasured Plains, she will try and find any other interesting characters in the Wolfeng Gang to add to her personal group. She might include Wenling in that group if she shows enough promise.

"Jing, you aren't nervous, are you? You've been pretty quiet." Wenling asked while hugging Jing from behind with her breasts squishing against her back.

"I'm fine. There's just a lot more disciples than I thought there would be." Jing replied back quietly with a faint blush on her face.

"I see cute little Li Li still doesn't like me yet. Whyyyyy?" Wenling cutely whined while Li Li tried to push her away with his foot with an annoyed look on his face.

Li Li was perched on Jing's shoulder like usual but Wenling's constant hugging of Jing bothered him greatly. Did she think that she could touch his mom whenever just because they are on the same side?

'Go away annoying girl! My mother isn't someone you can touch so casually, especially when I don't even know you!' Li Li pushed her forehead back making Wenling whine even more.

This was their relationship for now. Jing's little son not liking the attention she was getting from someone else. Jing made sure to regularly give him attention so he doesn't feel ignored or less special. He probably wasn't a baby anymore but it was hard for Jing to not think of Li Li like that. He still was the same size from when he hatched out of his egg! Maybe refining him did something to his physical growth as well. She'd have to wait and see if he grows anymore in the future.

And speaking of growth, she needed to have her followers increase in strength faster. That was the only way of having them complete some of these missions for her. Worst case scenario, Jing would have to order Wan Qing or Hu Tao to destroy the commanders and leaders of the Wolfeng Gang and Fearsome Garden for her. It would hurt their reputations but if it needed to be done, they'll have to deal with it.

There shouldn't be any need for it to come down to that though. Jing has until the end of the Grand Tournament to increase the power of her followers. If Bing, Ying, and Lei Zhi can't reach the 9th stage of the Qi Gathering realm by then, then there's no need for her to have them around anymore. For this mission, she'll have to rely on Ying and Bing. Lei Zhi wouldn't be useful for any tasks that require killing humans. Bing to take care of the Huan clan and Ying to take care of Fearsome Garden.

It'll be harder on Bing considering that the strongest member in the Huan clan is at the 4th stage of the Qi Consolidation realm while the strongest member in the Fearsome Garden is only at the 9th stage of the Qi Gatherer realm. She would have to think of a way to bridge the gap between Bing and Leng somehow. Jing doubted Bing could reach the 1st stage in the Qi Consolidation realm and at most will only reach the 9th stage in the Qi Gathering realm by that time. It will be difficult for him to overcome Leng Huan with that big of a stage difference without some sort of help.

Hopefully, Jing will gain a SCP that can allow him to make up for the strength difference but first she would have to improve his loyalty to 100% first. He was sitting at a steady 60%. It was an improvement from when she first met him as it was only at 30% back then. He's come a long way for a slave but as her slave he's going to need more than just 60% for her to be satisfied.

Jing didn't believe that she could accomplish the last mission she received. SCP-1331, whatever it was, was definitely out of her grasp for now. It was too sudden and Jing has only just now started to give them resources for doing objectives for her. A slight oversight as a leader, yes, but as far as she knows she was just born a couple months ago into this world. All leaders make mistakes, the great ones just learn how to cover them up better. Next time she'll be better prepared for a mission like that.

If she was to try and accomplish the last mission of raising one of her follower's loyalty to 100%, it would be Lei Zhi. But, Lei Zhi's loyalty started wavering once he saw her with the Wolfeng Gang. Jing didn't understand what kind of relation Lei Zhi had with them but knew it wasn't good if his loyalty would shake because of it. She'd have to have a talk with him later. Not to clear herself of anything but for him to understand that her actions are not made carelessly and shouldn't be doubted.

* * *

"So, he has allies... Getting rid of him is going to be harder than I thought..." Bo Fai muttered to himself.

One of his goals during the Treasured Plains was to kill Hu Tao because of his monstrous talent and to steal those chains of his. That mysterious spirit tool was capable of contending with his heaven-ranked Phoenix Core! That must mean whoever gave him those chains is no simple character. They must be on par with the Sect leader or even above him to just gift something like that to somebody.

Bo Fai has done some research on Hu Tao after nearly dying to him and learned many things. He had no issue taking either gender in bed, he was raised in the wild, he is an orphan, is known for being a fighting maniac and general annoyance, and only recently started wearing those chains around him. Bo Fai had no idea that Hu Tao was acquainted with such a small group of people until today and of those present, he only knew of one and that was Wan Qing. Wan Qing in the future, died from an ambush attack from Iron Fist Ping and his two closest aides, Infinite Plans Li Qiang and the Relentless Immortal Shan.

The others, he had no information of. They either died before their prime or he just didn't recognize them when they were so young and weak. Bo Fai doubted it was the latter though, none of the weapons they were carrying on them rang any bells. All of them did seem unusual and strange from the average cultivator's choice of weapons. Wait a moment... didn't Wan Qing use a sword as his weapon in the future? It was said that Iron Fist Ping's arm was cut off from Wan Qing's final sword attack but this Wan Qing is using some sort of black club?

Just how much of the past is going to deviate from him reincarnating into his past body?! Wait why was Wan Qing even in that group with Hu Tao!? Wan Qing was also known as a lone cultivator! He had no friends and only enemies! Just what kind of group is that for two talented disciples to join it? Is having weird weapons one of the requirements of joining the group? Is the old man, Fatty, and girl also secretly prodigies as well? That had to be impossible for the old man.

The perfect age to start cultivating in between the ages of 8 and 16. So then it must be a group of weird weapon specialists then because Bo Fai had no idea why these people were all together. He should've done more researching on the people around Hu Tao rather than just Hu Tao himself. He's only confused himself even more. His first plan was just to kill and rob Hu Tao before taking all the good magical treasures inside the Treasured Plains.

"What'd you say Brother Fai?" Yanyu asked, clinging to his arm.

"Erm... Nothing. Why are you holding on to me? If your brother sees this, I definitely won't get off easy." Bo Fai mentioned, her brother was at the final stage of the Qi Consolidation realm.

Even if he went all out with his current strength, best case scenario would be him crippling one of Teng Yu's limbs before dying if he fought with him. The only chance of surviving against someone at that rank would be after gaining the magical treasures inside the Treasured Plains and using them to run away as fast as he could and protecting his own life. He might not know where the magical treasures lied himself but he did know who acquired them in his past life. All he has to do if follow behind them and when the opportunity arises, take it for himself.

"It's fine! Brother is too busy to watch us." Yanyu said with hearts in her eyes.

"Aren't you a little too young for something like this?" Bo Fai said a little uneased by the amount of lust radiating off this young girl.

"I'm very mature for my age. My brother said so!" Yanyu puffed her sizeable chest with pride.

"Fine... just don't get caught up in something troublesome like last time."

"My Brother gave me a bunch of talismans and spirit tools in case I get in trouble! I won't be in danger like last time!"

"Can you fight?" Bo Fai asked suddenly.

"I'm not a 4th stage Qi Consolidator for nothing!" She boasted.

"Can you kill?" He asked in a serious tone.

"I won't burden you." She responded back seriously, not giving him an answer but also showing that she wasn't going to back down from anything.

"Then stay behind me and just follow. I'll tell you when to do anything."

"Understood Secret Boyfriend!" She saluted.

"Don't call me that." Bo Fai sighed. Children were growing up faster than he thought. He was an old monster back in his last life that has lived for two thousand years. His involvement with women was very little as he focused solely on cultivation. He normally wouldn't even look at one unless she was holding a sky-rank or above spirit tool.

* * *

The giant gates leading into the Treasured Plains started shaking. The similarly-sized talismans started to slowly peel off the door and the qi from within the Plains were leaking from underneath. Everyone could feel the high-quality qi brushing against their bodies. With qi as good as this, their cultivation speed would increase at least two times faster! They couldn't wait to rush inside and start cultivating. By the time they got out, who knows how far they would have progressed in their cultivation?

"The gates are opening!"

"They're opening the gates!"

"I'm going to find a heaven-ranked magical treasure and change my destiny!"

"No, I am!"

"Like any of you weaklings will be able to find something that rare."

"Oi! Don't push! The gates are large enough for all of us to fit!"

"Who just shoved me!? I'll gauge your damn eyes out!"

"You piece of shit! How dare you elbow me!?"

"Whoever just felt me up, I'm going to crush their balls and rip off their dick!" A female disciple threatened.

"Guan Yi! I saw you punch me asshole! Consider your life forfeit when we get inside you bastard!"

Seeing the overeager disciples nearly start fighting before the doors even opened made many of the elders laugh and look on in amusement. This was nothing strange inside the Golden Serpent Sect. This was expected behavior of the disciples and elders! They saw nothing wrong with this situation of their disciples trying to kill themselves before the Treasured Plains even opened. It just allowed their students to have a better chance of gaining something from inside if the competition was eliminated beforehand. Hell, the elders themselves would do the same if they could get the riches inside.

Lei Zhi had his tentacled spirit beast, Quon, protect them from anyone brushing into them. Quon used his eight large tentacles to block anyone from getting near their group and also stopping Ying or Hu Tao from fighting against the others in the crowd. This was the best way he could stop any of them from engaging in the upcoming bloodshed and getting involved in it themselves.

"Whose stupid spirit beast is this!? It's too large!"

"I'm going to kill whoever owns the spirit beast!"

Well... He can say he tried at least, right? Lei Zhi and the others watched as the golden gates swung opened inwardly and they all started to stampede inside like a wild group of bulls! Inside the Treasured Plains was a Great Plain. Nothing but grass, spirit beasts, and spiritual herbs as far as the eye could see. Far off into the distance they could spot a Great Mountain that peaked past the clouds surrounded by trees, to their left was a Great Volcano with occasional bursts of lava from the rocky ground, and to their right was a Great Tower that radiated a terrifying amount of killing intent. Everyone would be in awe at these magnificent sights if they weren't too busy killing each other, greedily chasing after a rare spirit flora, or scaring wild spiritual beasts as they were taking them apart piece by piece with just their aura alone!

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some more prologue stuff and the official opening of the Treasured Plains Arc. Yes i say Arc as i want this to last several chapters and be pretty impactful and meaningful to the story for the main cast and the future going forward. I want there to be consequences and actions taken place during this that will change the fate of the main characters that was different from the ones they had before heading inside. As i'm writing this author note, I have no idea how i will accomplish this BUT IT WILL BE MY GOAL TO FIND A WAY!

At first, i had no idea i was even going to write about something like this until the chapter with Tang Wuying. Back then i had no idea where i was going to go with the idea and just thought it would xianxia-like to have this survival-type event between disciples. But before the chapter with Tang Wuying which gave birth to this event, I think i was just going to have Jing secretly raise her strength and influence throughout the Inner Court, slowly taking it over with her followers and own strength from behind the scenes.

Oh and if i hadn't mentioned what animal Quon is, he's a giant octopus with some cool abilities.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	50. Hu Tao vs Wan Qing!

Jing's followers headed pretty far into the Plains. The Plains were large enough to fit five times as many disciples as there are now. The further you explore in the Treasured Plains, the more dangerous it became. But this danger did not come without its benefits, the likely hood of encountering rare resources increased as well because of the quality of qi rising alongside it. Hu Tao was leading the group as they ran along, they still needed something from him before they could take advantage of the Treasured Plains.

The other disciples didn't pay any mind to them as there were many other groups within the Plains doing their own thing as well. Neither were any of them interesting enough to take that interest in except Hu Tao and Wan Qing. If they weren't known for being loners some might actually have tried to group up with them. But Hu Tao was known for being a menace while Wan Qing was known for being crazy. Neither of those qualities attracted the majority of the disciples.

"Are you ready to get fucking pounded, sissy?" Hu Tao asked, standing a couple of meters away from Qing.

"Are you ready to be taught manners by your superior, dog?" Wan Qing bit back.

"Take care to not go too far you two." Lei Zhi said.

"Shut up old man." Hu Tao barked.

"You know Hu Tao doesn't know the meaning of holding back..." Bing muttered.

"What's the point of a fight if you don't try your hardest?" Ying retorted.

"There isn't a need to go that far in just a simple spar." Lei Zhi said while gently petting Ni Xong, the mutant golden panda cub.

"Whatever. Let's see what Qing can do." Ying said with some pep in her voice.

"You really want Hu Tao to lose badly, don't you?" Bing asked.

"Yep! He's had an ass beating coming for a long time. I'd do it myself but, our stages are too far apart. It's impossible for me right now even if I went all out." She sighed.

"I will say, I am interested in seeing Wan Qing's martial arts. Seeing all the unique ways that we fight with the weapons Jing gave us, it's always fascinating to see them being used in a battle." Lei Zhi shared.

"I'm sure it has something to do with those butterflies." Ying guessed, as there were a small number of butterflies on flying around Qing.

"Yeah I believe so too but I can't really get anything from that alone. Maybe he can control insects with an auxiliary martial art or bloodline." Bing hypothesized.

"She." Zhi corrected before adding, "And maybe it's similar to my fishing rod." Quon mimicked Lei Zhi's petting of Ni Xong with its many tentacles.

"Oh, right." Bing remembered.

"Oh, they're starting. Let's watch!" Ying hushed them.

Hu Tao ran towards Qing like an excited predator, who just saw their favorite meal and couldn't wait to sink their fangs into it. Qing stood straight and proper like a charming prince. The look on her face showed no fear and instead showed arrogance and superiority! She was looking down on Hu Tao. It wasn't just because he was a lower stage than her either. She almost died the last time she looked down on someone weaker than her.

No, she looked down on him because he looked and acted like a simple beast. Qing wondered why Jing would allow someone like this in her plan to fix the sect, but then she remembered something one of her many sisters told her when she was a little girl. "Even mindless beasts have their uses." Maybe it was like that for Hu Tao... She doubted he had any other purpose besides being used for his strength.

"Are you gonna fight or stand there and look like a retard?!" Hu Tao clawed towards Wan Qing's face.

Four insect-like wings formed out of Qing's back and got her out of the way of Hu Tao's attack. They were made of qi and resembled the wings of a butterfly. As she was flying back, she partially opened her fan by a third. Hu Tao could see an eye pattern staring back at him from the weapon. She swung it and the wind picked up aggressively, Hu Tao was nearly sent flying into the air if he hadn't gripped his fingers into the grass.

'So that's something it can do huh...' Hu Tao grinned.

He sent forth his chains that stretched out. They moved like deadly snakes as they slithered straight for Wan Qing. The speed at which they were coming gave the fan princess little time to react, she was forced to block with her fan and the chains instantly wrapped around them as if to squeeze the life out of it. Wan Qing tried to pull her fan free but Hu Tao was stronger than her despite their realm difference.

"Hey! Look here idiot!" Hu Tao suddenly appeared in front of her and kicked towards her face.

With her fan being constricted, she was forced to block it head on. The tessenjutsu user was sent sliding back with her arms in terrible pain. If she took another hit like that head on, she'd lose all feeling in her arms for sure. It looked like Hu Tao was more talented that he looked. She might have to actually try in this fight.

Qing snapped her finger and the giant fan that was being held by the chains scattered into an uncountable number of butterflies that flew straight to her. The insects soon reformed themselves back into the metal looking fan and reunited with Wan Qing. The lovely butterflies flying around her only added to her beauty. It was time to start round two.

"That's a useful weapon." Bing stated in his surprise.

"Hell yeah it is! With a weapon like that, she could never lose it or get it taken from her! KICK HIS ASS GIRL!" Ying cheered.

"She will definitely be a reliable teammate with a weapon like that." Lei Zhi praised.

"I hope you don't plan on giving up already!" Hu Tao mocked.

"I was just warming up! This battle won't be finished until you refer to me as a woman!"

"Heh. If you can beat me, I'll call you whatever the hell you want! Mommy, Daddy, Wifey, hell I'll even call ya Grandmother if you're into that!"

Qing swung into the air with her fan. The wind danced to the tune of the anomalous weapon and formed itself into a powerful tornado that curved downward straight towards Hu Tao. The insatiability fighter channeled his qi into his metal ball attached to his chains and kicked it towards the spinning tornado. The metal ball grew greatly from the intake of Hu Tao's qi. Solid and gas met mid-air, the power radiating off of both attacks were blasting the nearby surroundings with strong winds. The grass below the clash, the clothes of Tao and Qing, the fur of Ni Xong, and the hairs of Zhi, Bing, and Ying.

Hu Tao's giant ball was sent flying straight back at him, forcing him to dodge out of the way as he knew that he couldn't shatter the thing even if he used his full strength. Just standing in the way of that thing was asking to have all your bones broken. It was kind of funny in a way, Hu Tao's own weapons were completely dangerous to himself just as much as they were to his opponent! If he fought someone who could take control of his weapons, then he would have to... wait that sounded pretty exciting now that he thought about it. It would add to the challenge of beating the shit out of whoever took his weapons.

"Did you think you were safe!?" The tornado from before chased after Hu Tao like a stalker! It didn't dissipate even after blowing away his ball!

Wan Qing was floating in the air creating even more tornados to deal with Hu Tao. Hu Tao was moving as agile as a monkey! With a silly grin on his face as he barely dodged the numerous wind drills, Hu Tao slowly got closer and closer to the unsuspecting flying cultivator. All Wan Qing could see was him just barely managing to stay alive. He wouldn't even realize that Hu Tao was setting up the perfect sneak attack from below. Hu Tao made sure to focus his eyes on the tornadoes to look as if he was only worried about them.

It was time! At this distance, he could reach him with a single leap! And just in case he decided to fly away as he's on his way, he'll use his chains to latch onto him and bring Qing straight to him. Hu Tao did as he planned and jumped. The surprised look on Qing's face showed that she didn't expect this attack at all.

And just like Hu Tao thought, he quickly flew out of the way to avoid him, letting him latch his chains around his arms. Hu pulled Qing towards him, ready to stick his fist deep into their gut. This wouldn't be as fun if he couldn't beat the shit out of him with his fists. He smiled widely as Wan Qing was slowly being wrapped up in his chains on his way to him.

The chains quickly wrapped themselves around Wan Qing from head to toe. By the time she reached Hu Tao, you couldn't see a single centimeter of her body! Hu Tao reared his fists back and let loose a powerful number of blows upon Qing's body. The chains that were wrapped around her spread apart to allow Tao's fists to reach Qing's defenseless torso. She barely let out any sounds of pain and this made Hu Tao's instincts shout at him in warning.

He felt something coming right behind him but how?! He looked at the body wrapped in his chains and saw Wan Qing's body slowly turning into butterflies. Damn it! He was tricked! This sissy ain't too bad at using his head in a fight. Hu Tao couldn't do anything but accept the painful blast of wind slicing apart his back.

He was knocked out of the air and crashed into the ground. Wan Qing flew towards him and hovered over him with her fan ready to be used at any second. It also allowed her an easy way of escaping if he did something she didn't expect. She could just fly straight into the air and out of the way. She arrogantly smirked while looking down at him.

"Ready to acknowledge me now?"

"Whatever, slut. If I went all out, you'd be the one on the ground right now. You're just lucky, I gotta save my strength for the top 10 rankers in the Inner Court." He responded.

"Hmph. If I went all out, you'd be all the way in the Middle Plains." Qing scoffed.

"Yeah whatever bitch. I'll see you kids later! I have some more fights to be getting to!" Hu Tao leapt off the ground before jumping away with an excited howl. The qi radiating off of him was much stronger than it was at the start of the fight!

"It was enjoyable to see Hu Tao get his ass kicked but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be." Ying said, getting off the ground.

Qing walked over to the ground and was hugged by Ni Xong. He had tears pooling around his eyes and a worried look on his face. "I don't see what you were so scared of. I was the one fighting." She said before hugging him back and comforting him. He was a little too cute to resist babying in Qing's opinion.

"Maybe you won't feel satisfied until you're the one beating him." Bing shrugged.

"Yeah, I think so too. I can't see myself being satisfied unless it's my fists pummeling him into the ground until his body is broken and bleeding." Ying scarily said with an excited look on her face.

"I believe it would be wise for us to get a move on now." Lei Zhi said.

"WAIT! THAT FUCKING STUPID BASTARD DIDN'T TELL US ABOUT THE TASKS!" Ying yelled.

"Hmm. You're right. That was the whole reason we waited here." Bing said before taking out the special talisman given to him by Jing. He sent a message to Hu Tao and a minute later he told them each of their tasks. Even Wan Qing got one and she just joined!

The type of tasks they were given were similar but not all the same. Bing's task was to kill 20 Huan clan members and for every 10 additional member he killed, the better his rewards would be. This was something he could do without blinking. As long as he chose his targets well, he could come out on top! All he had to do was keep a part of their body like a finger or ear to prove his kills and Jing would send Li Li to count them along with his reward.

Ying's task was to kill 20 Fearsome Garden members and for every 10 additional members she killed, the better her rewards would be. Ying didn't have anything against the Fearsome Garden but this was a task sent to her by Jing. She thought it was just a group for weaklings to join and think they were strong. Maybe they were actually more than she thought since Jing wants her to take care of them.

Ying shrugged, "Whatever, as long as I do this, I'm sure Jing won't hold back on the rewards!"

Lei Zhi's task was to weaken any major factions' groups. How he was to do this? He had no idea. This would be an interesting way of dealing with his enemies for the future though. If he couldn't run away from the issue, he could make them weaker for the future. The weaker they get, the easier it'll be for him to run away again! It's the perfect strategy!

Wan Qing's task was to kill the 10th ranked disciple in the Inner Court. Wang Yong was the grandson of Rong Yong, the elder that was directly under Elder Chang. Wang Yong was a talented spellmaster and a swordsman of substantial quality. That was all she knew of him besides the boy matching her in cultivation stage. Maybe this was one of the reasons why she was being told to kill him. Qing couldn't figure out the main reason for her being asked this. Did Yong offend Jing somehow? Was his character despicable and not beautiful at all? Perhaps she will find out when she meets him face to face. She was being rewarded with 5 high-tier spirit stones and a Bone Washing Pill if she accomplished this though.

Usually when someone offers 5 high-tier stones for killing someone, the target is known for being dangerously strong and valuable. But Qing doubted that Yong was any less talented than she was, he just battled in the ranking matches more often than her. Once she deals with him, those 5 high-tier spirit stones will probably be enough for her to breakthrough twice and Ni Xong to breakthrough 5 times! They held 10x the amount of qi that a low-rank spirit stone does. The only way one could not be satisfied with a stone of that quality is if they have a cultivation technique that needs an unholy amount of qi to progress.

"Are we ready to move out now?" Ying asked after putting away her talisman.

"I'm good to go." Bing responded.

"Us three are ready." Lei Zhi said, referring to himself, Xiurong, and Quon.

"I am also done reading mine." Wan Qing spoke politely.

"Now let's go get some treasure!" Ying shouted, by herself. After seeing no one else sharing her excitement, she punched Bing due to the embarrassment she felt.

"What did I even do?" He said massaging his arm.

"I can't be the only one who's excited!" Ying shot back.

"I'm excited too. I just didn't express it as much as you." Bing replied, feeling like he was dealt injustice.

* * *

Author's Note: The reason why I frequently switch gender pronouns for Wan Qing during this chapter is because at certain parts it's Hu Tao's thoughts mixed in at times and he refused to call her a girl until she beat him. I also hope the battle was interesting to read and flowed smoothly. I try and make these fights in a way that anyone could imagine it in their heads because I honestly enjoy writing about the fighting scenes. It's one of my favorite things to write about as an author because I love seeing awesome fighting scenes in anime and mangas. Trying to transition that to books is hard but I'm trying to improve.

Wan Qing's weapon is basically a super beautiful version of Temari's fan from Naruto, and Ni Xong is a golden panda basically. Initially I was going to make Quon a giant jellyfish based on the Box Jellyfish but I decided against it because of the scene from last chapter where Lei Zhi protected the group from being shoved and pushed by the other disciples. That's literally the only reason. I'll have to use a jellyfish pet in another story of mine.


	51. Already Running Into Trouble!

Ying led the party deep into the plains. The grassy plains were filled with disciples trying to take whatever they could before someone else did or fighting each other over resources that are all across the plains. There were also territorial Skull Oxen in herds that frequently charged and tried to kill the disciples. Just like right now, there were three skull oxen that were charging right for the group. Since Ying was leading in front, she took it upon herself to deal with them. They were just a bunch of dumb spirit beasts, it shouldn't be too hard to deal with them.

The skull ox was a spirit beast of formidable size and power. They were known for their incredibly tough shield-like horns that could take an attack from a creature two small stages above it and not even be scratched! Skull oxen were frequently hunted for these valuable horns to use as materials for weapons but besides that they didn't have much value. Their meat was tough and not very tasty, they hated everything that wasn't another skull ox, and temperaments were too violent to be domesticated.

Ying channeled her qi within her legs and stomped on the ground, shattering the earth in front of her. The skull oxen tripped from the uneven ground and Ying innocently laughed as they started mooing in distress. She walked over towards them and finished each one off with a single slash of her blade. The spirit beasts were cut in half and Ying looked back at the group as if she was asking, "What are you guys waiting for?"

"What is that?" Bing squinted his eyes, gathering everyone's attention.

Up ahead, Ying could see a lot of people standing around on top of a large hill. None of them could see anything but the backs of the other disciples whose attention were captured by something on the other side of the hill. If something could catch that many peoples' eyes then that means treasure was nearby! Ying excitedly picked up her pace unconsciously.

"Something good has to be ahead!" She exclaimed.

"You mean something dangerous has to be ahead." Bing corrected.

"Where there is danger, there is opportunity as well." Lei Zhi said just as excited as Ying.

It was the first time he could explore the Treasured Plains with confidence in himself. All the other times, he was forced to group up with others like him just to survive the oxen. Very rarely, did he ever gain anything from the Treasured Plains and was allowed to keep it on his way out. He never even made it out of the Plains as he was too weak to explore anywhere else but this time would be different. Lei Zhi promised to explore the volcano, mountain, and even the tower this time around!

"Let's go see for ourselves." Wan Qing smiled.

"That was the plan!" Ying told them.

They started to climb up the mound expecting some great treasure on the other side. Maybe it was mutant spirit beast, maybe it was a magical treasure, or maybe it was a valuable plant that could only be grown within the Treasured Plains. All of their imaginations went wild at the possibilities. Ying doubted it could be anything she needed but that doubt was miniscule in comparison to how much she wanted it to be something she needed.

They arrived at the peak of the hill alongside the other cultivators and couldn't believe their eyes. This couldn't be true... How could something like this be here? It doesn't make any sense! Just before they started climbing up the mound, they could clearly see that there was something behind it! They couldn't all be going insane, could they?!

"How is there is a cliff right here?!"

"I'm pretty sure this place is called the Great Plains not the Great Cliff!"

"If anyone fell down from here, there wouldn't be a single chance of them living."

"I doubt even the Elders could survive a fall from this height."

"My legs are paralyzed in fear, can someone push me back down the hill please?"

"What hill?"

"What do you mean what hill? The hill right behind us!"

"There is no hill behind us..."

"What the hell is going on here!? Where did the hill we climbed up go!?"

"Why are we trapped on a floating piece of rock above treacherous waters!?"

"What's going on Qing?" Ying asked just as confused as everyone else.

"We're trapped in an illusion array." She explained.

"An illusion array?"

"Someone is messing with us?!"

"A spellmaster planted a trap for us! How do we get out!?"

"Well, it might not be a spellmaster that created this illusion formation. It could be naturally occurring... But that'd be worst case scenario if it was true."

"What even is an illusion array?!"

A fellow disciple scoffed at his peer's ignorance, "An illusion array is a formation that traps someone in an illusionary world while their real body is defenseless in the real world. Getting out is impossible if the person doesn't even realize they're trapped in the first place."

"How do we get out then?" Someone asked.

"We have to find the base of the formation within the illusion and destroy it."

"Or we could get lucky and hope someone that isn't trapped jolts our body from the outside world, that could free us as well."

"Wait Qing, why would it be worst case scenario if it was naturally occurring?" Bing asked.

"That's because if it is, then we would need to find the spirit tool that was causing this and destroy it." Qing explained.

"What's so bad about that? We just got to break it right?"

"I wish it was as simple as it seemed but getting our way to that spirit tool is going to be harder than you think."

"Why is that?"

"Because from what I can tell... this spirit tool is at the very least earth-rank if it can trap this many cultivators inside. And an earth-rank spirit tool that can create a formation as powerful as this one, has to be protected by a powerful spirit beast."

"Even a cultivator at your realm has to be careful?"

"Oh no. I'll be fine, it's just going to be a hassle to figure out where the magical treasure is. You all might lose your lives though." Qing said leisurely.

"Lose our lives!?"

"I don't wanna die yet!"

"How the hell can an illusion kill someone? You really are just a crazy freak. Watch me get out of this without even trying." A 7th stage Qi Gatherer scoffed.

The confident disciple hopped off the cliff down into the raging waters and sharp giant rocks below. Since it's just an illusion, none of this is real. Even if his body was skewered and torn apart by the waters below, it wouldn't matter at all. It was just an illusion like that sissy said. By the time he hits the water, he'll definitely be out of this dumb illusion.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how illusion formations worked. Wan Qing rolled her eyes as the screams of the disciple were quickly drowned out by the sounds of the crashing waves. She looked towards the others. Now they should heed her words carefully.

The strength of a formation varies depending on how much qi is fueling it and what rank the talisman slips used in the creation of the formation. A mortal-ranked illusion formation can't recreate the sense of pain. A stellar-ranked one can't trap more than 5 people. An earth-rank illusion array can trap anyone who walks into it and recreate the sense of pain. So, that disciple that just jumped down to his death, felt everything on his way out. He's most likely brain dead and turned into a cripple by now. Unless his pain tolerance is extremely strong, then he should be fine and coming back any moment.

Wan Qing immediately pinched herself once she realized she was trapped here to find out the rank of this formation. Now she just had to find out if it really was just an earth-rank illusion before deciding to get out of here. If it was a sky-ranked illusion, it's going to be more tedious to escape and she's definitely going to take this spirit tool for herself. She could only wait until she found the magical treasure in person before she could figure out what rank this was.

"Anyone else want to go for a swim?" Qing smiled as the disciple who just jumped off reappeared back at the top of the cliff.

His body was mangled horribly with pieces of his bone jutting out from his body. Blood raced out of the sizeable holes from his torso made by the rocks below. He groaned in horrible pain. Some of the disciples nearly threw up at the sight of the mutilated still living corpse. This was one of the fates of being trapped in an illusion array with your sense of pain intact.

"What the hell!?"

"Disgusting!"

"Why isn't he dead!?"

"Because it's an illusion," Qing spoke before adding more, "Since it's an illusion whatever happens here is not what happens to his body in the real world. Although whatever happens here can affect your real body in other ways."

"This is pissing me off! So, all we have to do is find this magic treasure, right?!" Ying asked frustrated.

"I believe so." Lei Zhi said.

"Fine! Follow me and shut up!" Ying fed her sword a spirit stone directly into the mouth behind its eye.

The sword started to transform right in front of everyone's eyes. The previously large shiny silver blade blinded anyone that was directly staring at it. The sword started to take on a sleeker look while growing even longer. One swing with her sword like that and even if you were standing 5 meters away, you could still find yourself cut by it! Seeing the strange transformation of the weapon caused everyone to gasp in shock and envy.

"What kind of spirit weapon is that...?"

"Just who is that girl and why haven't I ever heard of her before!?"

"Just what is that weapon and why haven't I ever seen IT before!?"

Ying looked around the cliff in deep focus. She could see far more now that her sword has taken on a new form. This new form for her blade would allow Ying to find out where the damn spirit tool was hiding. Then she could get out of here and actually find some real magical treasures!

"So that's where you're hiding..." Ying softly said as she looked over the edge of the cliff.

She gathered strength in her legs and vanished from the top of the cliff. She was diving straight down into the waters!

"Is she crazy!?"

"Did she not see what happened to him!?"

"Oh god, our only hope is gone..."

"Why did our savior have to be a crazy suicidal bitch? Now there is no hope for us getting out..."

Bing, Lei Zhi, and Wan Qing focused on Ying as she was falling down the cliff. Bing knew that Ying wouldn't kill herself. She must have found a way out of here just like she said, but was it down the cliff? There wasn't any other explanation for her behavior. Bing and Lei Zhi trusted Ying's judgement, they followed after her and jumped off the cliff as well, following her exact path down.

"Ah?! Hey, wait for me! If you were going to do something you guys need to tell me too! I just joined remember!?" Wan Qing grabbed Ni Xong and followed behind Bing and Zhi.

"Is today the holiday to commit suicide? Did they not see the horrible outcome that happened to the first guy that jumped down?"

"Maybe they couldn't take it anymore. They were mumbling like crazy people before jumping off."

"Or maybe they figured out a way to leave this illusion formation!"

"What? Why would the way out be by committing suicide?"

"I don't know but it's better than staying up here till I starve to death!" The disciple jumped off the cliff and followed after Wan Qing's figure.

"What if they really did find the way out?"

"Well we could just wait and see if they come back in the same way the first guy did."

"That's true, and if they did find the way out then they would be back up here and be like that guy."

The scared disciples stood and waited till the girl hit the frenzied waters. Some couldn't bear to watch her kill herself and reappear back up here in a terrible state. Others watched with precision focus as this could be there only means of escape if she was right and wasn't just a suicidal nutcase.

"She really was right..." Ying didn't reappear at the top of the cliff.

"They found it! They found it!" The joyful cultivator hopped off the cliff in his excitement but didn't take care to look exactly where he was jumping, resulting in him missing the spot where he needed to land and reappearing back at the top of the cliff with his body terribly deformed.

"Haha! Don't be like that fucking idiot and make sure you land where they landed. Or you can say goodbye to your life."

The rest made sure to land exactly where the girl splashed when they jumped off. They didn't want to turn out like those two and have their lives ruined by a stupid inanimate object. Could you imagine dying to something that doesn't even have a thinking mind? As a cultivator, it would be most embarrassing to die due to such stupidity.

Ying and her allies entered some sort of sea cave. After jumping down into the hazardous sea, she was swallowed up by a whirlpool within the water that dragged her deep down into the water. Being swallowed up by the sea should be a painful experience but Ying could breathe just fine in the waters. She had little control over her body because of the whirlpool but she didn't feel any discomfort. She found herself washed up on some beach inside a dark cave.

Bing, Lei Zhi and his spirit beasts, and Wan Qing and her spirit cub showed up moments later. Ying ignited her hand on fire and illuminated their surroundings. There was a narrow hole in the rocky wall in front of them. Besides that, there was just the incredibly soft sand and glistening water from where they came.

"I can feel the spirit tool up ahead. I can't sense anything else near it." Ying took the lead.

"Let me go first. Just in case..." Bing said walking in front of Ying.

"I said there was nothing but the spirit tool nearby. What are you worrying about?" Ying asked slightly irritated.

"Well, I believe it's better to be safe than sorry. What if there was something that could hide its qi and attacked you? I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night if you got killed when I could've prevented it." Bing stated calmly.

Ying's cheeks slightly flushed at the concern the Fatass was showing to her. How could he say something so embarrassing like that in front of everyone? Is his skin really that thick that he can say words like that to just anyone? Stupid Fatass...

"Do whatever you want idiot... I wouldn't get killed by something thing like that in the first place."

"I don't think that was called for but-"

"Shut up and move!" Ying kicked him in the butt, pushing him forwards the narrow opening. He had trouble fitting his round figure inside but with another kick from Ying, he managed to squeeze himself in.

Quon completely wrapped himself around Lei Zhi so that he could fit through the hole. His body was mostly squishy and soft but still quite large. Lei Zhi decided to go in last so that Quon's tentacles doesn't get in anyone's way. Everyone else agreed and they entered through the cave opening. Bing going first, Wan Qing and Ni Xong next, Ying fourth, and Lei Zhi and his pets last.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright. We're finally in the Great Plains and this arc can finally begin! We're starting off with Jing's gang first. I honestly don't know what kind of treasures i should give to these op little mercenaries. I have a few things in mind on what kind of loot they should get but I'd appreciate some ideas from you guys! But do not make it too crazy now... I still have a bunch of story left to write with these guys and this story. So, no Heavenly Jade Sword that can cut through literally anything under the heavens or a Mystical Banner that can hold an entire world inside along with being able to grow spirit plants in a time ratio with 1:1000.

Seeing the start of this chapter made me realize that i may have to extend the time we spend with these characters before switching povs. If i start switching views constantly, the viewers may not enjoy being taken around so much with the story so, i'll most likely focus on our main groups with adding little excerpts with the other characters. Although, i personally would enjoy spending a few chapters with Tang Wuying and the rest, this is Jing's story. I have to keep reminding myself that Jing and her immediate party is most important.

But anyways! Next chapter is on Fri. The new schedule is now Mon Wed Fri since i'm reducing the chapters to 1.5k words per chap.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	52. A Small Scuffle

The group slowly made their way through the cramped narrow space within the cave. They could only see blackness and hear each other's breathing in this tight space. The only path forward was going straight. If anything came towards them during this time, they wouldn't even have enough room to try and take out their weapons! This is another reason why Bing decided to take the lead.

Bing was a body cultivator which meant that even without his weapon, he wouldn't be helpless to any attacks. He could use his bare hands to try and eliminate any threats. Lei Zhi and Wan Qing were qi cultivators. They could strengthen their bodies by layering qi over themselves but this would wear out quickly against an equal or stronger opponent. Their main focus is in causing as much damage using martial arts that don't involve infusing qi into their bodies.

Ying could have also taken this task as she's a body cultivator just like Bing but Bing decided to take this task over for himself. He did use a shield after all. What would be the point of having his shield if he didn't use it to protect himself or the people around him? It'd be no better than an accessory.

"Ying, you sense anything up ahead?" Bing asked.

"Hold on. Give me a sec, I gotta feed this hungry little runt again." Ying responded as she fed the great sword another spirit stone in its eyeball. Her sword felt embarrassed after Ying said this out loud.

As everyone else stopped moving to wait on her, the great sword began to transform into the incredibly long and sharp blade from before. Her sword's transformation only lasted ten minutes and when those ten minutes were up the new abilities it gained would slowly vanish along with reverting back to its original appearance. Ying searched with her qi. She didn't feel any other qi ahead besides those in her group.

"There is an open space we will reach soon and when we get past there, the spirit tool will be sitting on top of something." Ying relayed.

"Got it. Let's keep moving then." Bing said.

The group continued their way forward slowly and carefully. There was no going backward in this tight path. If something happened up ahead, they would have to rely on Bing to handle it or they'll all be screwed. None of their martial arts could be used with their arms and legs so restricted, even trying to reach for their weapons would be a wasted effort. No movement arts, weapon arts, auxiliary arts, or body arts could be used to defend from something attacking them.

"Hold on Bing, I hear something up ahead." Lei Zhi suddenly spoke. Bing stopped in his tracks while everyone else matched him.

"We're about to reach the open area! You probably just heard some rocks falling or something." Ying dismissed.

"Rocks don't sound like metal..." Lei Zhi responded.

"I'm telling you, I don't sense anything with qi ahead of us. And if you didn't know, every living thing has qi inside them! Even people that don't cultivate have qi."

"There could be something that doesn't have qi inside them..." Bing pondered.

"How is that even possible?" Wan Qing asked.

"I guess we'll have to find out. Follow me, I'm going in." Bing walked at a slightly faster pace with his hands ready to block or catch anything coming towards him.

Bing swelled himself up with his Devil's Arms and grew an extra pair of arms out of his palms to increase his reach. As they got closer to the opening, everyone else could also hear the sounds Lei Zhi heard.

"Damn it!" Ying cursed under her breathe.

"Hehehe." Lei Zhi innocently chuckled, prompting a smile from Wan Qing.

"I see light up ahead!" Bing told them as he squeezed his way into the open cave area.

"Grr..." The growling startled Bing but he did not lose his composure. He saw multiple black metallic dog-like beasts running towards him.

"Yea! There's definitely something we have to deal with besides the spirit tool!" Bing pulled his 2nd pair of arms back into his body and held his shield in front of himself.

There were about a ten of these strange beasts in all. Three were attacking from his front, two from his left, two on his right, and three from above. If he stood here and blocked, he would get flanked by the four on his sides. Those sharp maws of theirs look like they can tear right through his flesh with no problem. He wasn't going to take a needless risk.

"Get ready to fight once you're in here! Swift Devil!" Bing shouted, ramming his shield into six of the canines.

The remaining four quickly dashed after him, allowing the others to come inside the open area. Ying pulled out her transformed sword and dashed after the dogs chasing Bing. Lei Zhi reached for his pink fishing rod on his back and tossed its hook towards the metal beasts. Xiurong leapt off of Zhi's shoulders and grew to the size of a tiger. Quon's thick tentacles extended and reached for any dogs he could grab. Wan Qing couldn't use her fan's wind ability in a place like this without affecting her allies, but that wasn't her only method of fighting. She grabbed her fan like a club and flew after the strange beasts. Ni Xong hid behind a rock and watched.

Bing smashed six of the dogs into the wall with enough strength that he partially lodged them inside. They continued to snap and bark at him without a care in the world. Bing's body being strengthened by his Devil's Physique allowed him to pull off tasks that cultivators a few stages higher than him couldn't dare to try. In the Qi Gathering stage, the main difference in the stages is physical strength. Your qi is mostly unaffected until you get to the late stages where you become more accustomed to qi and learn how to use it more naturally. Such as being able to infuse it into weapons, infuse it into their limbs separately, and creating their qi pool in preparation for the next realm.

The metal beasts were starting to claw and bite their way out of the cave wall. Bing really didn't want to take on six of them at once. So, before they could free themselves Bing slammed his shield into the immobile metal beasts, sending them deeper and deeper into the cave walls. Unfortunately, his shield was only so big. He could only trap two inside while the other 4 got free and leapt towards him with their maws wide open for a bite. He gritted his teeth as he prepared himself for the incoming pain.

"I got you Bing!" Qing said as she batted the four away with a single swing, her fan was opened all the way to catch each beast.

"Thanks. You don't know how scared I was of getting bit." Bing wiped his sweaty forehead.

"You looked pretty brave to me." Wan Qing smiled.

"That's good to know I didn't look as frightened as I felt."

"It would've been fine either way. Women like a man who isn't afraid of showing his emotions."

"Thanks...?" Bing said confused.

"You're still young, maybe you'll understand when you fall in love." Qing giggled.

"Love? What are you-" One of the metal canines came flying right past Qing and Bing, crashing into the wall.

Ying came over and glared at Bing.

"How about we save the flirting for later?" She coldly spoke while slashing the metal beast in half with her blade.

"Flirting?" Bing was only getting more confused as time went on.

"You don't need to worry Ying. I'm not a thief." She chuckled as Ying's face blushed heavily.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She released her embarrassment on the sliced dog and ignited her sword.

The heat coming off her long blade melted the metal beast into silver molten. She then ran off to deal with another beast while Bing's mind was running in circles trying to process Qing and Ying's words. Wan Qing flew off to help out the others leaving Bing alone with the two trapped dogs in the wall. Realizing that standing there trying to understand the conversation between Qing and Ying wasn't helping anyone, He got to work on trying to kill the two stuck beasts in the wall.

Lei Zhi hooked onto one of the creatures with his fishing rod. The hook snagged onto the top of its maw and he reeled it in at incredible speeds. The metal beast couldn't even hope to resist against the unbelievable strength of the fishing rod. Lei Zhi felt like he was reeling in a goldfish with how effortless it felt. He mentally asked for Xiurong to help him out.

Xiurong reached out with her claw and as it was about to zip past her, she caught it in-between her claw and snapped it in half. The creature's separated body fell to the ground and Lei Zhi went over to take his hook out of its jaw. He made sure to give Xiurong a congratulatory rub on the head before reaching over to take the hook out. Just as he was about to reach into the mouth of the fallen beast, it quickly snapped its jaws to bite his hand off.

Lei Zhi's hand moved with the swiftness of a gazelle as he barely managed to save his hand in time from the sneak attack. If it wasn't for his auxiliary martial art enhancing his senses, Lei Zhi would have had to say goodbye to his left hand right there.

'How frightening... I just started back on my path of cultivation and nearly became even more crippled than I was before.'

Could Jing's mysterious background even replace a hand? Lei Zhi really didn't want to find out. Xiurong crushed the metal dog with her claw as soon as she saw what happened. She used all her strength as she smashed her fist into the two halves, turning it into flat metal scrap. Lei Zhi rubbed Xiurong's shell to calm her down and show her that he's okay. Xiurong was still very pissed that something bad could've happened to Lei. She blurped something at Quon and he hopped on top of her shell as she charged towards the other metal beasts.

"The metal dogs can stay alive even after being cut in half!" Lei Zhi shouted.

"What?!" Ying exclaimed as she just sliced upwards with her blade and split a metal beast in half.

The two parts of it fell to the ground lifelessly before twitching and then rising back up and merging back together into a whole.

"Annoying!" The metal beast she just dealt with came after her with a friend.

Ying ignited her sword as Qing flew in and bashed the friend away. Quon caught it in the air with his tentacle and began to crush it with powerful strength. He used his other tentacles to fold it into a small cube so that it couldn't hurt anyone even if it was still alive like this. Qing smiled as she saw Zhi's spirit beasts working together.

Ni Xong was just hiding behind a rock watching them. She's really going to have to teach that boy not to be so afraid of fighting. If she doesn't, he's going to have a rough time in the future. He might be a baby but other spirit beasts his age would be already be having lessons on how to hunt with their parents. During her time in the Treasured Plains, she's going to have to give him some confidence.

Once the group learned how to deal with the metal creatures, they stopped behaving like wild animals. They watched as the dogs ran away to one side of the cave and started shaking together. Bing's eyes widen as he saw the place they needed to go wasn't blocked off anymore. During the fight earlier, a group of those metal beasts would always be near that part of the cave and refuse to let anyone past it. Now they can head straight for the spirit tool!

"Sorry about this Ying!" Bing swept Ying off her feet like a princess and started running for the room where the spirit tool was in. "Follow me! We don't need to fight that thing, we just need to get the spirit tool!" He yelled.

"Put me down Fatass! I told you that a Yue never retreats! I'm going to kick that things ass and you can't stop me!" Ying fiercely struggled. Everyone else followed behind him as they agreed with his point. If there wasn't a point to fighting then why fight? They wouldn't get any benefits fighting this metal beast.

"We're not retreating! We're just leaving for a moment! You can deal with it after we're done!" Bing held onto Ying's slim waist tightly.

"You're a bad liar and a stupid fat headed idiot!" Ying's face was as red as an apple while Bing's strong arms were held around her. Did he think she was some weak defenseless girl?! She could take care of herself without his help! Why the hell was he making her so irritated lately!? Just looking at him made her feel upset but being held in his arms like this made her realize that she wasn't that opposed to it.

What Bing and the others didn't realize was that they had people behind him them. The cultivators from the cliff that followed them into the waters. They also showed up on the cave's beach and went through the narrow hole just like they did. Only to stumble upon a giant metallic wolf staring them down as they came out of the narrow hole.

"GO BACK! GO BACK! GO BACK!"

"I can't! I can't turn my body!"

"Fucking get out of my way!" The cultivator tried pushing the guy back but it didn't save him in time when he tried to squeeze back inside. The upper half of his body was chomped by the wolf, scaring the disciple into the wall so badly, he froze. Seeing his peer's internal organs spilling out of his upper and lower body caused his soul to momentarily free itself from its mortal chains.

The metal wolf got up close to the small hole in the wall and sneered as it made eye contact with the frightened cultivator. A smelly yellow stream started to pool around his feet. This sent the beast into a frenzy. It started to ram into the wall with its entire body to get at the cultivator inside, shifting the cave entirely.

"What's going on up there!?"

"Who's fucking around at a time like this!?"

"Stop playing and get moving! It's hot back here!"

"We're all gonna die..." The cultivator who urinated cried with tears down his eyes.

"Fucking move you shithead!"

"What's that loud noise?! Are you trying to bring the whole cave down on us?!"

"If you retards forgot, we're still underwater in this cave! If this cave caves in, we're so far deep in the ocean that none of us will make it back alive!"

"Maybe drowning won't be so bad... We're still in an illusion so we might just reappear back on the cliff completely fine."

"If you want to drown yourself, go ahead and do it by yourself, you damn fool! Some of us don't want to experience death and just want to break out of this god damn stupid illusion array!"

"I was just saying... Maybe drowning wouldn't be that bad of a way to go. Didn't need to get so pissy..."

"Shut your stupid fucking mouth and try to figure out what the hell is happening up ahead. Being trapped with so many sweaty guys is pissing me off."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So uh funny tidbit... Wan Qing was actually supposed to have the personality of like a stuck-up super talented noble. Like in her character details, i explicitly put that she was: Haughty, blunt, mean, noble-ish, Generally looks down upon everyone they meet due to her expecting them to reject her because of her life choices. Not to mention usually being above the people around her because of her high talent.

I might rewrite her character to fit that standard more in the future depending on how you guys feel about her now. Like originally in her origin story in meeting Jing, she was supposed to fall in love with the power of Jing. Jing's mysterious and almighty power that could demolish whatever she pleased and how she could descend the sect into chaos if she wanted. But as you guys can see, that is not how i made her origin story with Jing and now that i'm writing this, it would've been way fucking cooler if i did it the way I originally planned!

I can only sigh. I'm still a fucking scrub at this writing thing but thats not a bad thing. I can only keep practicing and try to do better for the future. But yeah that's it for this author's note. Comment if u want this personality of Qing or the one she was supposed to have. As we're still early in the story, i can make that change without making it seem too drastic of a personality shift.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	53. Don't Touch My Face

"We got another big friend waiting for us! Behind him is the spirit tool probably." Lei Zhi shouted. He could shape out something large and beast-like up ahead.

"I'll take the lead! Try and take it down while I'm getting its attention!" Bing yelled as the group made it into the last room.

"Put me down already!" Ying told Bing with an irritated look on her face.

He did as she asked and they all locked eyes with the giant metal beast. The cave room they were in was smaller than the room they just left but it still had plenty of room for all of them to fight freely. The walls were littered with skeletons wearing the tattered robes of their sect, broken or rusted weapons lying next to them, and the musky smell of the cave itself.

A lot of disciples have met their end to this spirit tool. Lei Zhi wondered if there was some sort of malicious spirit inhabiting the magical treasure. The reason why it is trying to take so many lives could be because of this malice. Or was it just trying to protect itself from being taken away and used like a tool? Lei knew that some magical treasures could think for themselves as if they had their own mind. If this spirit tool was like that did it mean it was purposely trying to kill everyone who got caught in its illusion or just wanted to be left alone?

Lei shook his head. This type of thinking is only distracting him. He needs to focus on this battle and help his teammates out. The giant beast was swiping its paw down at Ying to crush her. It just knocked Bing away a few moments ago so he couldn't protect her from being squashed! Lei threw his fishing hook towards the leg of the metal wolf to try and help Ying. The feisty lass definitely wouldn't choose to avoid the attack.

She stood her ground with a heated grin. Ying's giant sword came over her shoulder with great force to slice the beast's paw in half. The amount of power in that swing was definitely too much for a girl of her age and physique! Her sword and the beast's paw clashed in a fierce clash of sparks. Lei's hook reached the wolf's leg and easily pierced into it. Seeing that strange sight made him wonder just what couldn't his hook snag into...

Another question to test later with Bing, Ying was slowly pushing the metal paw back with just her raw strength! Lei was starting to doubt she even needed his help in the first place! Her sword was slowly cutting right through the beast's paw. The metal beast roared with enough force to send most of them flying away! Its clashing with Ying was stopped but Lei Zhi's hook was still attached to it! Quon caught Lei before he smashed into the cave wall while Lei tugged on his line, lifting the giant wolf off its feet and tossed it into the opposite wall.

Qing caught Ni Xong and stopped herself with her wings, Ying stabbed her sword into the ground before she could be sent flying, and Bing took a note from Ying by digging his twenty fingers into the floor. Now that the beast was out of the way, everyone could finally see the spirit tool that it was protecting.

"How beautiful..." Wan Qing muttered.

"Destroy it!" Bing yelled.

"Wait! Does anyone want an illusion making spirit tool!?" Lei Zhi asked.

"I don't! But I think Qing does!" Ying responded as Qing slowly flew over to the magical treasure.

* * *

She wrapped her hands around the softly glowing oil lamp and suddenly she was taken elsewhere! Qing looked around and found herself sitting on a throne surrounded by kneeling men dressed in feminine robes. This was her palace... The palace she's lived in for the past 20 years... Why did it feel like she didn't recognize this place at all? Like she didn't know any of the hundreds of followers bowing before her. She seemed so lost looking at all the same things she's seen every day.

The palace she called her home was the most beautiful palace within the Evergreen continent. It was filled with such beauty and unbelievable riches that it was like this entire place was meant for her! Even though she played a great part in creating this place, it just all fit so perfectly. This great palace belonged in her Immortal Fairy Sect in which she was the sect leader of.

There was a strange blue butterfly on the back of her palm though. She didn't recognize this bug but it felt like she should. It seemed like it was calling for her, trying to connect with her. It was crazy that Wan Qing felt like she should try and connect back with this spirit beast she's seen for the first time. If anyone else knew of her thoughts they would call her a maniac!

"Sect Leader!" Someone called out to her.

That shout woke her from her daze, "Yes?"

"Are you ready for the wedding that will combine both our sect and the Supreme Blade Kingdom together and lead the future of Evergreen continent into prosperity?" Ni Xiang asked.

Ni Xiang was her best friend since they were young. They did everything together growing up. Learning the ways of the sword, cultivating the same martial arts, and even liking the same boys but unlike Qing, she was born a woman. There was a time in their past where Wan envied Xiang because of this. It spiraled into a large fight where their friendship was close to shattering forever. If it wasn't for Xiang's persistent and headstrong nature then they would probably be nothing more than strangers right now.

Wan Qing smiled that her best friend was still with her but why did Wan feel like she didn't know Xiang at all? A small part of her refused to acknowledge Xiang as her best friend in the entire world. A small part of her refused to even acknowledge Xiang at all. And it wasn't just her she felt this way about, she felt this way about her supposed groom and everything that was happening right now. The body she was in didn't even feel comfortable! It felt different.

Ni Xiang grabbed her hand and led her to the doors leading out of her throne room. Was she really going to be married right now? Everything is going too fast! Shouldn't marriage be something done after several years of getting to know each other? Why does it feel like she's getting married to someone she just got to know a couple of seconds ago!? Just what is even going on right now?!

Ni Xiang opened the doors and soon the surroundings changed. Ni Xiang was no longer next to her and every one of her family and friends were sitting in chairs clapping. Wan looked to her right and stared into the eyes of Hu Tao!? Hu Tao locked eyes with Wan Qing and gently smiled. He was like a completely different person entirely! He was wearing a well-made and fitted outfit, his hair was smooth and straight, and his personality was kind, supporting, and respectful.

"Are you ready, my dear?" His voice was filled with love and care. If she didn't know Hu Tao before, he would be her dream husband! He was like a royal prince!

But! This was an illusion. She was trapped in an illusion inside an illusion right now! These memories floating around in her head weren't real! The magical treasure was a sky-ranked one! The butterfly from before flew in front of her face and sent qi at her. It was trying to help her break free this entire time! Wan Qing responded in kind and sent her qi back to the butterfly, distorting the world around her and all the people inside.

Qing shot up from the ground. She frantically looked around and saw everyone staring at her. The spirit tool was clutched in her hands, Ni Xong was hugging her lap with a worried look on his face, and the butterflies were all over her body. It looks like they made it out of the first illusion without her. They were back in the Great Plains with everyone else.

"Finally awake huh? You should probably hide that unless you want everyone knowing we got the spirit tool." Ying smiled.

"How long was I out?" Wan asked as she connected her qi with the Illusionary Urn.

"Half an hour at most. After you touched the spirit tool, you just stopped moving. It was like your mind was taken somewhere else." Bing replied.

"I got put under a second illusion." Wan Qing used the powers of the urn to change its look into a normal sword. So, if anyone looked at it now, they would just see a sword hanging from her waist.

"We tried everything we could to wake you up but nothing worked." Lei Zhi said.

"I even punched you and that still didn't work." Ying revealed.

"Is that why my face hurts right now!?" Wan yelled.

"Sorry but hey! You got a spirit tool at the earth rank! Wanna show us what it can do?" Ying suddenly asked.

"We should get moving. Qing, you can tell us on the way." Bing suggested.

"Did it really have to be my face though!?" Wan asked.

"If a punch in the face won't wake you up, nothing will." Ying replied.

"She felt really guilty after doing it though. She even fed you one of her recovery pills." Bing spoke up.

"Who feels guilty!?" Ying shouted.

"Well thanks, but next time I'm unconscious don't touch my face please." Wan begged.

"Heh. Youth is refreshing to witness." Lei Zhi chuckled as the group got up and starting to move deeper in the Great Plains.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The illusion-making tool is just a genie lamp in apperance. I don't think xianxia worlds have genies so i didn't put genie lamp to describe it. Ah, and i didn't really get any answers on what personality i should give Wan Qing so, she's staying how she's been so far.

Next chapter we'll be with Jing and the Wolfeng Gang! She'll go through a few fun things with them and Li Li. I'm proud to say that i haven't had to rely on the comment suggestions yet for ideas about treasures, places, and martial arts. In my drafts, i've officially written up to chapter 61 so 8 chapters ahead from this one. I plan to increase that distance bit by bit but, i'm a lazy mfer. But anyway yeah, see you guy Wednesday.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	54. Jing's First Day Out As A Bandit!

Deep in the woods near the Great Mountain, a small battle was being held by two different groups. There were little differences between both groups but the third group watching didn't care enough to differentiate them. All they saw were easy prey. The two groups were locked in a life or death battle over a glowing blade floating in the air. A certain someone thought it was a pointless battle as there was only one blade that only one person could use. All these lives lost over a single sword, it would've been more meaningful to have a chosen member of their group to duel the other and the winner would take the blade.

The first group of cultivators stumbled upon the blade first. Their leader tried to take the blade for himself but just as he was about to grasp the handle, he was knocked out of the way by the second group's leader. Neither sides looked as if they were part of a faction and were just a group of cultivators that decided to team up to take on the Treasured Plains together. This was a regular occurrence within the Treasured Plains for cultivators with no reputable background, the untalented, and those with no friends to rely on.

Jing watched this fight play out while hiding in the bushes with the Wolfeng Gang. The Wolfeng Gang was the third group watching this fight and intended on snatching the valuables of everyone here along with the glowing spirit weapon. The winner of this skirmish didn't even know what was about to hit them. Wenling was a lot more intelligent than Jing thought she was.

Letting your enemies battle to the death and then killing the victor to take all the riches is a smart plan. Jing had to give her praise, she knew how to use her head. She did have some issues with this plan though. The rewards to be gained from this won't be as good as these two groups are filled with lackluster cultivators. But then again, if they do this enough time, the amount of resources taken will eventually stack, increasing their power even more.

"Let's go get our goods boys." Wenling whispered to her ranks.

The first group successfully killed their opposing enemies but with heavy costs. Out of the 20 cultivators on the first side, 10 were killed in this battle. The second group was completely wiped out. The remaining ten survivors allowed the strongest in the group to take the blade. Jing was honestly surprised that the survivors didn't all turn on each other and start stabbing themselves in the back for the sword. Knowing the cultivators in her sect, she wouldn't have been surprised in the least.

The dangers of the Treasured Plains must be greater than their greed if they're willing to pass up on a sword like that. And in a way, they were right in their choice here. It was just too bad they weren't aware of their surroundings. Jing threw a talisman towards the leader and it stuck to his back. It was a spell that caused a bright and intense light to shine, blinding anyone staring at it.

"I CAN'T SEE!"

"We're under attack!"

"Damn it! Seriously?! Just one fucking thing after the other in these damned Plains."

"Cowards! Reveal yourselves!"

The Wolfeng Gang shielded their eyes before charging in. They kept their eyes to the ground where they could tell when the talisman was done shining and when it was, they looked up and got ready to kill. Wenling observed from the back as everyone else attacked. None of the cultivators here were at the 9th stage so there was no need for her to join in. Her second-in-command, Ears, took on the leader of the first group. They were both 8th staged Qi Gatherers.

Since they had the advantage after blinding the cultivators, Ears managed to slice off the hand of the leader with his dagger. The blood spray that sprayed on his body from the wound didn't bother Ears in the least. The horrified screams of the leader were silenced with a casual stab to the throat as he fell down gurgling on his own blood. The rest of the gang were taking care of the other nine cultivators.

Jing did not take part in the bloodshed despite being an important factor in aiding it. She took it upon herself to capture the spirit weapon for the group. With a sealing spell slapped onto the sword, it couldn't resist being captured by Jing. Its abilities were sealed as long as this sealing talisman was wrapped around it. She grabbed the sword in her arms and quickly ran towards Wenling while the rest were finishing up the cultivators and pooling together their belongings.

"Nice job my protégé." Wenling complimented, causing a small blush to appear on Jing's face.

"It wasn't too hard..." Jing softly responded. She then gave the sword to Wenling.

"What was that first spell you used?" She asked.

"It's called flash. It's a supportive type spell..."

"Good choice picking that one. Thanks to that, none of my men got injured and we got a good haul from these groups." She rubbed Jing's hair.

"Thanks..." Jing hid her face and stared at the ground.

It was at this time Ears walked up to the two. Everyone else was piling together the loot from the dead bodies while casual joking and playing around the corpses. He gave a dismissive look at Jing before looking at Wenling with a love-struck expression. Jing wasn't pleased to be disliked again just because she caught the attention of someone else. Shang and his fans were enough.

"This haul was small but not negligible. No injuries are present and everyone mostly contributed equally in the ambush. Once we take inventory of all the loot, we will distribute them to everyone." He relayed.

"Good work Vice Commander. Since, I didn't participate make sure to leave none for me. Remember to also reward yourself for taking the head of the strongest cultivator." Wenling told him.

"Yes Commander." A foolishly wide smile showed up on his face from her words as he turned and left.

Wenling then looked at her and motioned with her hands to go over there too.

"I don't think I'm worthy to receive a share... I didn't do much in the battle..." Jing quietly spoke.

"If you didn't deserve a share of the loot, then I would've said so. Ears knows how much you contributed to this ambush, he'll give you what you earned. Now get on over there with everyone else." She told Jing.

Jing did as she said. Everyone lined up for their share of the rewards off the dead bodies. Jing was near last in line. During her time waiting in line, she managed to see that most of the group were gifted qi pills, recovery pills, spirit stones, weapons, or weak spirit tools. One of them was actually gifted the glowing sword that the two groups were fighting over.

The young man in question cheered loudly and was congratulated by the others. Once he pulled off the sealing slip wrapped around the blade, it sparked with lightning zipping all over the body of the blade. It was a lightning blade! He could feed his qi into the blade and increase the amount of power held within the blade. The others figured it was definitely an earth-ranked spirit weapon for sure but Ears corrected them in an instant. It was just a stellar-ranked spirit weapon, which was still impressive for the average cultivator to get. Something like that could be considered a family heirloom for the average cultivator clan or family. The young man was named Du Zihao.

When it was her turn to receive her share, she was met with another look by Ears. She didn't know if Ears was his actual name but that is what everyone referred to him as other than Vice Commander.

He handed her the most loot out of everyone, garnering some angry reactions from those who watched. She was gifted 10 qi and recovery pills, 20 spirit stones, a good quality sword, and a one-time amulet that would shield her from any attack in the 1st cultivation realm. Jing was honestly surprised he didn't try to give her less than what she deserved. She expected him to give her only a few recovery pills or something similar to that but it looks like he has a better nature than she thought.

"Hey, what the hell? Why does she get that much when all she did was run around?"

"Yeah, Ears are you sure your eyes haven't gone bad? I didn't see her kill a single person."

Ears glared at them all, shutting them up with his stronger cultivation and fierce aura.

"When did you sorry bastards get the balls to question my decisions? If it wasn't for her talisman, you little bastards would've had a harder time. She made the ambush as easy as it was and because of that she gets what she deserves. Just like the rest of you. And if you still have complaints, come on over here and prove just how big your balls are." Ears said, his bloody dagger shining particularly bright.

Everyone else was forced to be silent at his words. Some of them may not have accepted this decision in their hearts but they had no choice but to reign their attitudes or get beaten up by the Vice Commander. They normally would hold a grudge against Jing but seeing her close relationship with the Commander made them get rid of that thought in a heartbeat. Only an idiot seeking death would try and make enemies with Jing after seeing their Commander being so kind to her.

"Let's get moving then. We still got some time before night comes. Let's try and find another group."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright everyone, we'll be with our Apprentice Spellmaster Jing as she hangs out with a bunch of bandits for a few chapters! I've been seeing a lot of comments about people wondering where the hell Jing was and here she is. I feel that you guys will be very satisfied in reading these upcoming chaps with her. I had a lot of fun writing them and usually when i have fun writing about a particular chapter(s) you guys too. Except with Hu Tao. I think he might be the most disliked character of the group by the readers, but that's just my opinion.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	55. The Giant Rabbit!

Ears led the way through the woodlands. Wenling was right behind him along with Jing and Li Li. Ears had impressive hearing despite not being a part of any notable family. He used his hearing to scout the path forward for them. Many in the gang suspected that it was actually a bloodline ability of his that allowed him to hear so well but Ears himself denied this. He was born to a normal family whose ancestors were nothing but farmers. There wasn't a chance of his blood being anything but mortal.

"Come on Vice Commander, it gotta be a bloodline. That shit just ain't normal."

"He has a point Ears. I mean I can't do anything like that!"

"I told you bastards that I don't have a bloodline. Some men are born stronger than others. Some men are born better looking than others. I was just born with ears that better than others." Ears explained.

"I guess it makes sense when you put it like that..."

"It's a shame I was born better looking than most. My good looks don't help me like it does the Vice Commander." One of the ugliest men boasted, causing many to laugh.

"Pfft! Gahahaha! You ugly asshole! You almost made me spit out my water with that joke!"

"Bwahahaha! Only a Pig-nosed Jade Monkey would consider you handsome! You'd definitely be the best-looking monkey in the jungle!"

"Oi! Who are you shitheads calling ugly? I don't see any of you with girlfriends!" Although surprising, the ugly fellow did have a girlfriend! His physique was strong, his intelligence wasn't too bad, and his flirting skills were unmatched compared to the others.

This statement shut the others up as they did not have women of their own like Zian. They knew of Zian's girlfriend as well. She wasn't anything too beautiful but she wasn't ugly either! A plain girl accepted an ugly bastard like him. It made the rest feel that the world was too unfair. Should they lower their standards for a chance of happiness too? The ugly bastard did seem happier ever since he got in a relationship.

"Shut the hell up! I hear something!" Ears ordered.

Everyone immediately stopped their talking as Ears got down low to the ground. He placed his ear on the woodland's ground to get a better sense of what he was hearing. The ground beneath their feet started to softly rumble. Jing could clearly feel and hear what was happening with her refined body. Ears would understand in a few seconds too, along with everyone else. Ears shot up quickly and took out his daggers.

"Take out your weapons! Whatever is coming is coming fast and with plenty of numbers!" He yelled.

Everyone heeded his instructions as fast as possible and got ready to take on whatever was enough to unnerve their Vice Commander. Wenling took out her glaive, Jing took out multiple talismans from her satchel and threw them around the group. She was making a box-shaped formation! She planted four talismans in each corner of the group and grabbed the sword that she carries around on her waist to use as a base for the formation. Upon taking the sword out, she stabbed it into the ground in the center of the group and slapped a conduit spell on it, activating the array and creating a qi barrier around them. It was the most basic of defensive formations but it was something.

She sat down exhausted against the barrier to catch her breath. It looks like she made the formation just in time as the Wolfeng Gang could now see what was coming towards them. A stampede of spirit beasts came charging their way. Everyone was shocked at what they were witnessing and almost couldn't believe it. They wouldn't have stood a chance against that many spirit beasts even if they had an extra life!

"Thanks Jing!"

"You really saved our asses there!"

"If it wasn't for you, we'd definitely be swallowed up by those spirit beasts."

Jing's cheeks burned as she took in the numerous thanks from the group.

"N-No... Problem..." Li Li glared at anyone trying to get too close to her. Since he was a spirit beast at the 9th stage, it was pretty effective.

The spirit beasts rammed into the array but only caused small ripples to occur on the barrier. It wasn't enough to destroy it. As the spirit beasts were charging, Wenling noticed that they seemed to be running from something rather than just coming after them... Those that ran into the barrier quickly ran around it while looking back. If these spirit beasts were truly after them, then they wouldn't have given up after running into it once.

'Something dangerous must be up ahead. Which means something valuable must also be near. A beast tide on this level can't be caused by any regular beast. There must be a valuable plant or treasure nearby that would have caused a powerful beast to rampage and scare the other animals away.' Wenling guessed.

The beast tide passed them by and everyone expected the ground to stop rumbling by this point but instead it got even bigger! They looked ahead and saw a giant white figure snapping trees in half with just a simple push. Its eyes were bloodshot and strained making it look as if it had blood-red eyes and an evil aura. Like some sort of demonic beast!

"What kind of fucking rabbit is that!?"

"That's way too big to be a rabbit! It has to be a mutant bear or something!"

"Bears don't have ears or teeth like that!"

"What's that on its head!?"

On top of the giant rabbit spirit beast, an mesmerizing azure lotus plant that has bloomed could be seen stuck to the skull of the rabbit. The qi radiating off of that plant was even greater than the mutant rabbit's! Wenling and Ears shared a look. That plant must be the cause of whatever is happening to this rabbit! They've never heard or seen anything like this rabbit before and it was far too different in physique to just be a mutant spirit beast.

"Maybe it won't be able to get in here..." Someone hoped.

"It is just at the 7th stage..."

"A normal 7th stage spirit beast wouldn't be able to cause a beast tide on that level. Get ready you sorry bastards. We're taking that spirit plant on its head!" Ears commanded.

The giant rabbit stood up on its hind legs and started rapidly clawing the qi barrier. The barrier had ripples appear all over the formation but it could handle this much power. Seeing that its claws weren't working no matter how fast it clawed the barrier, it tried biting into it with its powerful teeth. The teeth managed to puncture a small slit into the barrier, shocking everyone. Ears commanded them to get into position and to get ready to attack once the barrier is down. The rabbit turned around, showing its back to everyone, before kicking the barrier with both of its feet and completely shattering the defensive array.

Wenling took the lead as soon as the barrier fell. She jumped on top of the rabbit and stabbed her glaive into its back as everyone else followed after her. The sudden pain caused the beast to cry out and swipe at the cultivators with its claws. The claws easily ripped through the bodies of some of the gang, splitting them from the waist, chest, and head. Seeing members of their group dying so easily already, made the ones who survived take extreme caution in dealing with this beast. That could've been them that died right there.

Ears sped around the spirit beast to try and attack from its back like Wenling but the spirit beast was somehow able to see him even though he was almost entirely behind it! It used its back legs to kick at him, forcing him to dodge or he would die from the powerful legs of the spirit beast. Whatever that plant was doing on top of its head was giving it strength that only those at the 9th stage could show! The rest of the gang started slicing and slashing at the rabbit with their weapons before running away once its attention wasn't focused on Ears.

Wenling continued to stab and slice with her glaive on the back of the giant spirit beast. With her powerful 9th stage Qi Gatherer power, it wasn't hard for her to take most of the attention of the rabbit. It hopped a great distance into the air with Wenling on its back, making everyone on the ground look up in awe. Wenling herself even got nervous about being this high up in the sky. This damn rabbit sure can jump but it won't get rid of her that easily! She stabbed her glaive deep into the back of the beast and held on with all her strength as it came falling down.

"Holy shit..." A cultivator said looking into the sky.

"Is the Commander going to be okay falling from that height?"

"I don't have a fucking clue..."

"Vice Commander, do you think you could survive that fall?"

"Maybe. If I stick my blades in the back of the jumpy bastard and make sure to have it land on the ground first instead of me maybe I'll get away with some broken bones." Ears replied honestly.

"Li Li, go save her." Jing told him secretly. He followed her request without hesitation.

Li Li might not have liked the tall woman but he didn't wish for her to die either. His mom cared about her for some reason and so he cares too! Not as much but if she's useful for his mom then that's good enough reason to not want her to die. He took off like a white blur in the sky without a sound. He snagged Wenling from the back of the bunny and gently flew back down to the ground. Wenling managed to get her glaive before she was whisked away by the young owl and the rabbit crashed to the ground.

"KILL IT WHILE ITS DOWN!" She ordered from above.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't have much to say in the author's note for this chapter. Just a simple little action chapter.

Ears holds his daggers in a reverse grip, if anyone was wondering.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	56. A New Tool To Use

The gang quickly heeded her directions and ran towards the flipped over spirit beast. It landed on its back in its attempt to kill Wenling, putting it in a somewhat helpless position. The gang avoided its dangerous legs that were strong enough to completely shatter a defensive formation and started stabbing and slicing it with their weapons. Some jumped onto the stomach of the creature to dig their weapons in its guts while other were fine hacking at it on its sides. It fiercely cried out in pain and struggled to kill any members it could with its claws.

Ears used this chance to take care of the spirit beast. He nimbly avoided the razor-sharp claws of the beast as he aimed to slice the lotus off of the beast's head. It seemed as if the rabbit could sense his intentions and grew desperate. The giant beast screamed with enough force to knock Ears into the air before he could slice the strange plant off with his daggers. The others caught the Vice Commander before he fell and the rabbit was getting back up!

"Damn this thing just won't stay down!"

"It's bleeding like a bitch but it's still just as strong as before!"

"Aim for the flower you stupid bastards! The flower on its god damn head!" Ears yelled.

Wenling leapt up high and dove down with her glaive to separate the flower from the beast's head. It bared its teeth and readied itself to bite the Commander once she gets close enough. Zihao used his new lightning sword and shoved it deep into the neck of the mutant beast. Although it was completely by luck, he managed to wedge his blade into the spine and completely lock its head in place. This allowed Wenling to cut off the lotus attached to the head of the rabbit.

Red fluid squirted out of the stem and splattered all over Wenling's chest but this didn't bother her. She raised the flower up high in a stance of victory! The battle was over and no more lives needed to be lost!

"Hell yeah!"

"Fuck you stupid rabbit!" He was repeatedly kicking the dead beast in its side.

"About damn time..."

"Hey Commander why is that thing still moving?" Someone pointed out.

"What are you-" The lotus in the Commander's hand started to rapidly grow in length.

Wenling tried to throw the spirit herb away but it was clingy. It covered her in its roots and tried to reach her head with its main stem which was the thickest. Jing used this chance to participate in the event. So far, she's done really nothing but watch as she was acting as if she was still tired from creating the barrier. But with this, she could say that she's done something.

Jing actually was quite interested in the parasitic plant. This could be an easy way of gaining 100% loyal followers if she could find out a good way of growing them and after refining them with SCP-914, she would have those infected with the plant to completely follow her commands. Maybe she would even be rewarded with more tickets like what happened with Hu Tao. It was a thought worth exploring.

Jing clumsily and desperately rushed over to Wenling and pushed her out of the way, freeing her from the grasp of the plant but also allowing the plant to latch onto her own head.

"Jing no!" Wenling cried out. "Why did you try to help me?!"

Jing didn't hear her. She wasn't in the Treasured Plains anymore and was back in that place from before. The same place where she was taken when she refined herself. The black space with the white sphere that felt linked to her. If she tried harming it or affecting it, it would have the same result to herself. Of course, that was just Jing's gut feeling talking and not something she knew for sure.

She was naked again just like last time but that wasn't the important thing here. It was the nasty foul presence above her that didn't belong here. She looked up and met eyes with the parasitic lifeform that wanted to take over her being. Jing was slightly surprised looking at the figure. It was like she was looking right at herself!

It had her exact same face and body but with a few extra parts. There was the beautiful light blue lotus attached to its head and several lotus petals floating around it. The qi leaking from the copy was strong and seemed to get even stronger the longer it stayed here. It looks like it didn't even need to attach with that strange orb over there to strengthen itself. It smirked at her.

"You don't truly believe you can take over my mind, do you?" Jing asked, amused.

The flower continued to grow in strength while smiling at Jing. It was trying to pressure her with its ever-increasing qi. The qi that was being sucked straight from Jing's dantian. It was laughable that it believed that taking her qi was going to help it at all. By inviting itself to this realm only hastened its death. If they were back in the physical world, Jing would have to restrain her power and techniques but here, there were no witnesses at all.

"You've doomed yourself once you stepped foot in here." Jing told it. The qi she kept restrained within herself was no longer held back.

She unleashed the deep and unstoppable qi onto the plant in full force with a mocking laugh. The doppelganger's face changed in an instant as it was launched flying into the air. It tried resisting with the qi its stolen from Jing but it was useless. What it took from her was nothing more than a drip from the bottomless well that was Jing. Its face was now morphed into a confused and horrified scowl.

It needed to run. It needed to flee if it wanted to survive. This host wasn't a good host! It would be killed if it stayed here any longer to try and take over this host! The lotus quickly flew towards the top of this black space. It knew there was an exit there because it entered from the same place! It would have to try and take hold of a different host! A host that isn't a freaky as this one!

But how could Jing allow it to escape when she still had a use for it? A giant blue being appeared in front of the flower. It had feminine features, no definable face, and was completely transparent. The being swiped the copy out of the air and brought it inside its chest. It kind of reminded Jing of herself when she was refining...

'Could this creature actually be SCP-914!? The subconscious that aids me in refining objects I have no knowledge of?' Jing wondered.

It was a very high chance of it being so. But if SCP-914 is here then where is SCP-222? If there was a representation of this SCP then there had to be another for the other one. Jing looked around for anything else inside this other world but couldn't find anything. Even with her superior senses, she couldn't find it. Maybe it was because SCP-222 was a physical object on a different level than SCP-914. It was hypothesized that the refining machine could have been secretly run by a being on a higher level of existence from humans. Like some sort of Divine Blacksmith.

Jing locked eyes with the giant as it took out the refined parasite and pushed it out of the exit of this place. That was also when Jing found herself back with the Wolfeng Gang. She shot up and immediately looked around. Li Li cried out in relief and rubbed him face on her face. Wenling was next to her and the other were eating around a campfire, joking around. Ears noticed her awakening and started walking towards them.

"Looks like you're finally awake my protégé." Wenling smiled with relief as well. It seems she was allowing her to rest on her thighs this entire time.

"What happened...?" Jing asked while comforting Li Li with plenty of rubs and petting.

"After you saved me from that plant, it attached itself to your head instead. Then you just fell unconscious and been out ever since." She told her.

"I didn't hurt anyone did I?" Jing said worriedly.

She chuckled in amusement before saying, "No. You didn't hurt anyone sweetie. Like I said before you just fell unconscious and we couldn't get rid of that flower on your head no matter what we did."

"Even Zihan's stellar-ranked spirit weapon couldn't remove it from you," Ears spoke as he arrived. "Here's some meat from that bastard from earlier. Whatever that thing on your head did to it made its body much better." Ear handed her a stick with a cooked part of the rabbit's meat stuck at the end.

"Its meat is good for strengthening the body, enhancing your qi, and it tastes good as well." Wenling explained.

"Only those from wealthy clans can eat spirit beasts that give benefits as good as this." Ears added.

"Thank you!" Jing bowed her head towards Ears and grabbed the stick.

The lotus flower attached to her head shot out and latched onto Ear's head, quickly drilling into his brain with its tendrils and becoming one with him. Jing visibly panicked and screamed at what was happening while Wenling reached out as fast as she could to try and pull it out of his head. But she was too slow even with her speed. It was the perfect timing as no one could have expected this. One would think it would attach itself to Li Li or Wenling due to their close proximity with Jing but no, it grabbed Ears.

Ear's body was visibly transforming at a rapid rate. The muscles on his body were enlarging, his eyes were turning red, the qi within his dantian was expanding, and his regular qi was transforming into a different type of qi! He grabbed his head while clenching his teeth in pain. By the end of his transformation, his power was raised to a completely new height as he broke past the barrier of the 8th stage and entered straight into the 9th stage along with gaining a pretty little lotus resting on top of his head.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you guys enjoyed that little segment with Jing and the parasitic spirit plant, then i got a few more exciting parts with her where she doesn't restrain her strength in the next few chapters! I made them specifically in mind to the commenters that wanted more of Jing not hiding her power so, expect some good stuff Wednesday and Friday!

I've also gained a recent liking in parasites and things like that. Two being coexisting as one while also strengthening each other is such a cool concept to me! I'm definitely gonna add more of it in my stories till i get sick of it.

Oh that reminds me, some guy commented about how all my main characters are unlikeable jerks or evil so that made me decide that the next story i release alongside this one will have a good-natured main character! In the future when i release even more stories, one will have a neutral or evil mc while the other will have a good mc. Just because i like things to have balance.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	57. A Boy's Love For His Mother

The Commander was still trying to pull it from Ear's head but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist. The amount of strength he used in grabbing her wrist made her worried. Did he get taken over like the bunny from earlier? Would she have to kill her Vice Commander in front of all of her men? No! There had to be another way. Jing was fine somehow so, there had to be another way to deal with this thing!

"Commander, I'm fine..." Ears said in a haggard voice. He released Wenling's arm. "The little bastard doesn't have any control over me..."

"Are you sure?" Wenling asked, with a worried look in her eyes. Ready to help him out no matter what it takes.

"Well... If you could bring me some more of that bastard's meat, I'll be even better." Ears tiredly collapsed against the tree next to Jing. The transformation must have taken a lot out of him.

"You got it." Wenling headed over to the campfire and started roasting the biggest meat for the Vice Commander.

Jing looked around awkwardly. Not wanting to make eye contact with Ears because of his supposedly dislike of her but still being worried about his current condition. She turned her face to the side and held out her meat towards him. She could hear him chuckling at her offer.

"If you need some... I don't mind sharing..." Jing mumbled.

"Don't mind if I do." He took a large bite out of Jing's food, causing Li Li to cutely squawk at him in anger.

"Heh, give me a break little bastard. I felt like I was just shoved out of my mom's hole for a second time." He chewed.

Li Li wasn't satisfied with that excuse and continued to berate him for daring to steal more than he deserved from his mother. He kept laughing while trying to get used to his new body by cultivating. Seeing the man ignore him so blatantly, Li Li knew he was being looked down on! He kicked the Vice Commander in the stomach, causing him to spit up some of the meat he just ate and hold his stomach from the pain.

"You little fucking bastard! Why would you!?" Ears cursed angrily.

Li Li just smirked as if he was saying, "You dare to ignore me now? A weakling like you who can't even beat a simple bunny?"

"I'm not gonna be looked down on by a fucking bird!" Ears swiped at Li Li to try and grab him but failed as the owlet did a simple hop and kicked him in the jaw from below the chin.

"Hey look, the Vice Commander is getting his ass kicked by Jing's baby owl!" Someone shouted.

A shining red mark was left on Ear's jaw. He bounced up with humiliated fury and let off a number of punches towards the avian beast. Li Li swayed his head with ease and continued to look at Ears with a condescending look of mocking.

'Heh, you couldn't touch me even if you tried. Honestly, it's just embarrassing looking at you.' Was what it looked like Li Li was saying to Ears.

"Oh yeah you little bastard shit!? Don't mock me!" Ears took out his daggers and rapidly slashed at Li Li who now was flying.

"Kick his ass little bird!"

"Haha yeah! Show the Vice Commander that there is always a sky above the sky!"

"I was always sick of that asshole barking orders! Shut him up for us!"

"Vice Commander, you can't even beat a tiny bird like that!?"

"The fucking bastard is faster than he looks! Shut the hell up already you loud bastards!" Ears yelled back while continuing to try and hit Li Li with his blades.

Jing outwardly looked very worried but inwardly was smiling. It was nice to see Li Li having fun with others. He didn't have many friends and seeing this situation maybe that would change in the future as he interacts with others more. She might have to give him a way of talking to people though.

Jing didn't plan for this situation to happen with Ears but it was fine for her not to step in for now. Li Li wasn't doing anything that would reveal that he's much more than he seems. He is at the 9th stage, so fighting against someone who just reached that stage wouldn't be that much of an issue for him. Plus, there's the fact that spirit beasts are normally stronger than humans at the same stage.

The two continued their show for a few more minutes before Ears dropped to the ground exhausted with a taunting Li Li prancing around him. Those watching started exchanging items with one another. Those who betted on Ears landing at least one hit lost and those who betted that Li Li would not get hit, won. Jing didn't participate in the gambling for three reasons. One, she already knew who would win. Two, it was too early for her to get along with everyone else and start participating in their bandit-like activities. And three, it wouldn't fit her personality as of right now to enjoy seeing others fight yet.

"Here you go. This is for the winner," Wenling handed a big piece of roasted rabbit meat to Li Li. "And this is for the loser." She handed a slightly smaller one to the exhausted Ears.

He was lying on the ground unable to lift his arms. He looked at Wenling with his face red and filled with shame. But it quickly changed into a scheming one once he realized his current position. A loser in need of some comforting!

"Commander, it looks like my body is even more exhausted than I thought. I can't even move a single finger. You might have to feed this sorry bastard." He grinned cheekily.

Wenling rolled her eyes as she knew he was just taking advantage of the situation. She propped his head up on her thigh and fed him herself. The rest of the gang made fun of the Vice Commander for wanting to be treated like this but he ignored it while looking like he was taking part of some heavenly activity. It was as if he was freely flying through the clouds just because he was lying on the Commander's lap.

Li Li walked over to Jing with his prize and handed it to her. She almost forgot this was the reason he fought with Ears in the first place. He ate most of her rabbit meat. She smiled at her feathered son and hugged him. The two shared the rabbit meat together as the lively night was coming to a close for the Wolfeng Gang.

By morning time, everyone was up and ready to move. Ears led them deeper into the woods, getting closer and closer to the Great Mountain. There's no doubt that there would be plenty of cultivators who headed up the mountain in search of treasure. And where there is cultivator, there is loot to be plundered! As long as Ears continue to scout the path carefully, avoiding any spirit beast nests they should arrive in no time.

"Commander." Someone called out.

"Yes?"

"Are we going to go higher than the lower limit?"

"No. Even though the power of our squad is stronger from eating that mutant's meat and the Vice Commander reaching the 9th stage, it's still not enough to take on anything higher than the lower limit." Wenling answered.

"What is the lower limit?" Jing asked.

"It's the area of the Great Mountain where only beasts of the Qi Gathering stage stay. The middle limit is where Qi Consolidation stage beasts stay and it continues like that with the higher limit, greater limit, and so forth."

"So, it's safer?"

"No, far from it. It just means that it's an area that isn't impossible for us." Ears clarified.

"If we tried to tackle the middle limit with just this squad, we'd be wiped out within seconds." Wenling added.

"Scary..." Jing mumbled.

"Yep. That's why you should always know your limits. It's also why those in the Wolfeng Gang take great care not to offend anyone with great backgrounds. Most of us in the Wolfeng Gang are just commoners. Those who started the path of cultivation without support from families or clans."

"Hell yeah! We worked our asses off to become cultivators!"

"Like hell we'll let some pompous fucking brats ruin that just because they were born richer than us!"

"AWOOOOO!'

"AWOOOO!"

"Shut the hell up you screaming bastards! How am I supposed to fucking hear anything with you bastards howling like monkeys!?"

"That's a wolf, Vice Commander." The young man who corrected Ears got a rock thrown at his nose. His fellow allies only laughed at him and his bloody nose. It was his own fault for correcting the Vice Commander.

'This kind of atmosphere isn't so bad.' Jing thought.

She wondered if her own followers were getting along like this. If so, she will be looking forward to when she goes out traveling with them. It would be a while until then but it was still something to look forward to. Their personalities are all quite different and should be entertaining to see them come together.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I didn't think this chapter would be so slice-of-life natured when i was writing it but that's how it turns out now that i'm rereading it over again. These chapters are nice every now and then because i actually suck balls at writing filler content. I say filler because i kind of consider moments like these not important to the plot or story but recently i realized that they are important and can help build upon the world and characters within the story i'm making.

So, i'm trying to figure out how to get better at writing scenes like these because its these types of moments where you can really bring a story to life. If i could master this, writing any type of story I want would literally be easy as balls. Because i have a few reserve stories that i plan to write in the future crossed off because of the current skill i'm at with my writing right now. I wouldn't be able to give those stories the care, love, and skill they deserved to be written with.

Anyway, see you guys friday. Next chapter will be fun and the chapter after that will be even more exciting.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	58. Falling In A Hole

The Wolfeng Gang made it to the Great Mountain while avoiding any beasts thanks to Ear's great scouting. Before they made it up the mountain, Ears heard another group ahead of them and decided to follow behind them. It would be hard to set up an ambush from behind on a mountain like this so, Ears and Wenling decided to follow them until they took a break. Then the Wolfeng Gang would attack when they're at their least alert.

Jing wasn't so sure about this ambush though. The strength of their group resembled theirs along with the size. If things didn't go well, then a good number of the Wolfeng Gang would be taken out. And so far, the only plan was to have Jing use her flash spell again when their guards were down. She might have to think of a way to prevent them from losing their lives. She couldn't make them stronger if they all died on her.

But thankfully, it looks like it wouldn't come to that. The group ahead of them discovered an opening in the mountain and went inside to investigate. This made the instincts of all the Wolfeng Gang members become agitated. Was there treasure in that hole?! They need to find out before the group in front of them gets it!

"The ambush is off! Head inside and find out what's in that opening!" Wenling ordered.

The resulting sight was like seeing crazed hounds freed from their leash. They all rushed inside the opening, pushing and shoving each other to get a glimpse at the treasure inside only to meet face to face with the other group. Weapons were immediately drawn and the air turned tense. Killing intent was leaking off of everyone within the cave.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"We smelled treasure."

"Treasure that doesn't belong to a bunch of miscreants like you! We found this place first!"

"Yeah and we're going to take it first."

"Over my dead body!"

"We're good at making dead bodies!"

Just as everyone's bloodlust was running high, suddenly an incredibly powerful qi was forced down upon everyone. Jing and Li Li felt nothing with their refined bodies but they could tell that no one was able to move. It must have been someone or something forcing their qi on everyone and since Jing wasn't affected by things like that with her abnormal physique, she had to remind Li Li to act like he couldn't move so that no one would notice their immunity. But it seems like her group was right in that there was treasure nearby.

Even Wenling could barely move under this qi and she was the strongest one here if Jing didn't include herself. Which was strange because the qi bearing down on everyone was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer's qi. This made Jing question why couldn't Wenling move? She's a 9th stage Qi Gatherer too. So, she should be perfectly fine right now if she used her own qi against it, right?

"Commander! Even you're unable to move?!"

"Whoever's qi is that is at a higher level than me in the 9th stage Qi Gatherer stage..." She gritted her teeth.

"What?! How is that possible?!"

"Do you bastards have shit in between your ears instead of a brain?! Don't you know that even among those in the same stage there are differences between them!?" Ears shouted.

Collective confusion sprouted upon their faces. What the hell was the Vice Commander yelling about this time? Wasn't the only difference between two people at the same stage was their ranking of martial arts? Or if they had a bloodline or not? Even Jing didn't know about these differences spoken by Ears.

"This difference doesn't start to show until you reach the 9th stage. That's when you will finally start to create your Sea of Qi in your dantian. And whoever's qi this is, has a far greater qi pool than I do. He's probably a peak-ranked 9th stage and on his way to breaking through to the Qi Consolidation realm. It feels like he should've broken through a long time ago." Wenling shared.

"What rank are you at Commander?" Someone asked.

"I'm a middle-ranked 9th stage." She spat as the floor beneath them started to crumble.

Curses, screams, and yells sounded out as everyone started to fall. Their fall seemed far longer than it should have been. They didn't climb very far up the Great Mountain but with this fall, it was like they climbed more than 50 meters up the mountain. Jing figured that something related to a magical treasure was happening here. She already knew that there wasn't a cultivator causing this with her upgraded body. The qi pressing down on everyone earlier was coming from something non-human.

There was no light in the hole she was falling but she could still see perfectly fine. In a few meters, she would find herself crashing below in an open area along with Ears and two cultivators from the group they were going to ambush. Since Ears was taken over by that lotus flower, Jing wouldn't have to unnecessarily damage her body in this fall to hide her abilities. Water burst from out of SCP-109's cap and Jing controlled the water into protecting her fall.

With a soft landing thanks to the water resting underneath her like a liquid throne, Jing saw that none of the others were injured despite falling from such a large fall. Perhaps using Neptune's Prophet, her body martial art, to control SCP-109's infinite supply of water was unneeded after all. Oh well, the time has passed and she could get started on two of her missions now but first she should investigate just where she was taken. This room was no ordinary room.

In the middle of the room laid a circular disk with 6 strange symbols etched into it. On the left and right side of the room were two walls filled with hundreds of weird symbols with a few of those matching the ones from the disk in the middle. Jing figured that they needed to do something with the symbols on the disc to the two walls. Then maybe that metal door would open up for them.

Li Li flew over to the disc and looked at the walls curiously. It looked like he wanted to solve this puzzle all on his own. Jing had no issues with that but first they had something to deal with now that the other three were waking up. Then he could solve the puzzle to his heart's content.

Ears was the first to awaken. He gripped his daggers and raced across the room to take out the others but that would be slightly problematic for Jing. She wouldn't be able to have these three cultivators count for her two missions if Ears killed two of them. Jing needed them to witness SCP-109's anomalous properties and to kill them with its unending supply of water.

"Stop." She commanded.

Ears immediately stopped and stood up straight like a wooden dummy. This was why Jing wasn't bothered to reveal her water controlling abilities with the Vice Commander in the same room as her. With the refined lotus plant attached to him, following Jing's instructions is mandatory. His mind is hers to control and change as she pleases. With the other changes made by SCP-914, taking over the Wolfeng Gang will only be a matter of time now.

"What the hell?! You two are part of the Wolfeng Gang!"

"Kill them before they get our treasure!"

"Kill me?" Jing smirked playfully. "I'd like to see you try..." Water gushed from out of SCP-109, enlarging the watery throne she was sitting on.

"You think we're scared of water?!"

"What a useless spirit tool! It can only create water!"

They scoffed while running towards Ears with their bare fists. A tentacle from her royal seat stretched out and pulled Ears out of the way before he could be attacked by the two. Water continued to pour out from the canteen, increasing the quantity of water for Jing to control. The two still seemed quite confident despite the continually growing amount of water behind Jing's figure. Jing smiled while she mentally looked at her missions. It looked like it counted even if they thought it was just a spirit tool.

'Good.' Jing thought.

Now there wasn't any reason to spare them any longer. Jing formed the water around her into shaping into a whip. With a single flick of her wrist, the whip moved like a fearsome serpent as it pierced a hole through the stomach of the first cultivator. She tried to mimic a dragon but it seems her talent was lacking. She'll have to increase her training for the future. She couldn't get by just by relying on her system if she truly wanted to become strong.

"Impossible... You're just a 4th stage..." He tried to hold onto the water whip going through him but his hands just slipped right through the water and he perished soon after.

"Who.. Are... You...?" The remaining cultivator fell onto his butt in disbelief.

"My name is Jing. Farewell."

"No..! Wait! I can serve you! I can follow under you!" He banged his forehead on the ground to bow.

"Amusing..." Jing's eyes seemingly pierced right through him.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter wasn't as fun as i thought it was yesterday. I guess i glanced over it instead of reading it like i did today. The final parts were a bit fun but it ended too quickly before it could get really juicy i guess. Next chapter on Monday is the chapter with Jing you'll guys love. If i remember the contents correctly. Right now, i'm like 9 chapters ahead of this one so, i get confused sometimes what chapter is about what.

Poor Ears by the way. The Vice Commander of Wenling's squad is now under the control of Jing! I wonder... what do you guys think will happen to the begging cultivator? What about the future of Ears?

But besides those questions, this author's note is over. I also need to learn how to write better cliffhangers. I've been reading some novels in my spare time when i'm being a lazy ass and not writing more chapters and i'm like damn, my cliffhangers kinda be terrible doe. They don't make you excited for the next chapter or interested in what the fuck is going to happen next, they just kind of end. I gotta work on that too.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	59. Jing's Playtime

He couldn't tell if she was smiling in the position he was in but, he felt as if he was being stared at by a monster... A being that held no problems taking his life within a second. She didn't care about the troubles in his life, the hardships he's suffered to get this far, the family he has back home. He was nothing more than just a plaything for her. He wanted to cry tears of blood and ball his fists hard enough that the whites of his knuckles showed but that would not spare him from the demon in front of him.

Survival comes first. Without survival, all thoughts and emotions are meaningless. You can't take revenge if you're dead. You can't promise to get stronger if you're dead. You can't plan to avoid situations like these in the future if you're dead. Gen knew all too well that face and honor were worthless when one's life was on the line. Only idiots believed dying was better than losing their face.

He ignored the stinging pain of his forehead along with the blood dripping from it as he kept his head bowed down to the demon. He could feel his heart beating like a drum from his throat. In one moment, his life could be taken, and he wouldn't even know how it would have happened. He could barely react when she killed Lok. That sort of speed wasn't something he could hope to beat. That qi that made him feel like he was facing against the heavens themselves... She was something outside his realm of understanding.

"Lotus. Share." Jing ordered.

Ears walked over to youth and crouched down to his level. The lotus pulsated on top of Ears and then blew out many white spores directly onto the young man. The spores dug into the pores on his skin and entered inside his body. Jing watched as he clawed at his skin in terrible pain crying out for mercy.

"Please spare me! I wouldn't ever betray you! I would follow all your commands! I! I..! I have a family..." Tears started falling down his face.

Jing giggled in amusement at the little fool. He thought he was dying right now because of the pain but all that was happening was he was gaining a lotus of his own. Seeing him in such a vulnerable and pathetic state made her want to play with him a little but that would have to wait. Li Li just solved the puzzle and the disk in the center of the room was now glowing.

He looked towards her with such a bright and happy look on his face. She couldn't help but praise him and give him plenty of petting as a reward. He cooed and happily accepted her reward. It wasn't easy figuring out how to solve it. He had to think very hard!

Jing sucked the disk into her storage ring as Ears and the boy stood in front of her with their lotuses blooming on their heads. Li Li perched on her shoulder and they all left the room by opening the door. Ears and the boy were leading in front while Jing took stage in the back. Once they entered the new room, Jing looked around for any familiar faces.

None of them were from the Wolfeng Gang. The blood on their clothes and weapons probably explained the reason for that. But this was good. She could use this to her advantage...

Ears and Peasant got out of the way and allowed her to move up front. The other cultivators came from 3 other rooms which Jing guessed was similar to the room she just came from. They had bronze disks just like she had in her spirit ring and it looked like they noticed that she was the only unfamiliar face inside the room. Jing only smiled as if she was looking at her new set of toys as a response to their glares.

Ignoring the hostile looks and killing intent, there were 5 rods floating upright in the middle of the room. They were above a small stone pillar and all held a different type of qi within them. From what Jing could sense with her qi, there was fire, lightning, ice, yin, and wind within those 5 stone rods. Maybe those were the rewards this time around.

"Who the hell are you bitch?" Someone asked her.

"Yeah, I know a frail little thing like you couldn't have possibly survived against one of ours."

"Even our weakest member wouldn't lose to a 4th stage Qi Gatherer."

Jing wanted to know if they were purposely ignoring the 9th stage Qi Gatherer, the 9th stage spirit beast on her shoulder, and the 6th stage Qi Gatherer behind her. Stupidity and ignorance did have its limits. Too bad for these ten disciples, they revoked their rights to remain alive when they insulted her. She twisted SCP-109's cap loose and a large amount of water shot out from behind her. Li Li used this time to investigate the rods and try and solve this room just like the last one.

"What the hell?!"

"Kill her before she tries something!"

"Ignore the two behind her! She looks like their leader!"

They charged for her and she could only lick her lips in anticipation for the sweet screams that will come after. A slender and familiar whip made of water was in her hands. A single swing of her whip took the head of a single disciple. He didn't even realize he was dead while the upper half of his head slowly slid off and fell to the ground.

She could have done that to every single one of them but what would be the fun in that? Seeing how her whip can slice most things in half, it's not that fun to use against weaklings. There's not much suffering she can enjoy if they die in one swipe. She'll save the whip for those strong enough to deserve being tamed by her.

The water whip splashed onto Jing's body and coated itself around her legs. The men in front of her didn't even realize that one of their own were dead yet. They were still charging at her. Jing couldn't help but laugh loudly at their lacking abilities. Seeing her laugh at them despite outnumbering her and being at a higher realm made them think she was crazy.

They all attacked at once and Jing grinned. With a flawless twirl of her body, Jing avoided their attacks and with a terrifying amount of strength, drove her foot straight through the chest of a disciple. The men didn't even get the chance to react to the absurd sight before being attacked by Jing's deadly kicks. Three of the men used the disc they got from the previous room to aid them in defeating Jing. The disc split into 4 smaller pieces of itself and defended against Jing's attacks.

"Don't be scared... I just used too much strength on that first worm. I promise I won't let you all die so easily..." Arousal and excitement glowed on Jing's face.

Jing landed several bone-breaking kicks on the cultivators to have them scream at just the right pitch. Even if the shield protected them, Jing's kicks were lightning fast. For every four blows defended by the shield, six more would land where they weren't defending. She made sure to regulate her strength after accidentally killing the first cultivator so that even if they wanted to die from internal injuries it would be impossible. Seeing their agony and terror only made her even more turned on. A few seconds ago, they planned to kill her without even giving it a second thought but now, they are completely at her mercy. Those arrogant smiles and mocking eyes from earlier are nowhere to be seen anymore.

Her cultivation martial art, Empress of Pain's Tome, was being advanced at a rapid rate. The more they suffered, the more physical energy she was absorbing from them. And since she's already reached the intermediate rank for it, she also absorbed their qi when she caused physical pain to her enemies. If she could drag this on for a bit longer, she could possibly even reach the advanced stage for it. It was said that once she reaches this stage causing others physical pain would increase her mental energy and give her Qi a commanding presence. If her mental will is stronger than her opponent's, she could force them under her will with just her qi alone.

And if her will isn't stronger then it could at the least pressure her opponent even more and cause them into making mistakes during battle. Having her qi being able to do that would make taking over the sect a much easier task. What better cultivation technique would there be for someone like her other than this one? It just fit so perfectly with the person she is at her core.

The 'fight' didn't take long. In only 10 minutes, the toys were all broken and barely any fun to play with. Even when she stomped onto the testicles of one of them, all he did was foam at the mouth and faint rather than screaming. He was the liveliest one too. If something as painful as that wasn't enough to yell about then nothing was. Jing figured it was time to give them the end they craved. They wouldn't hold anymore use to her in this state.

The water coating her legs shot out water tendrils that pierced into the hearts of all 9 barely living men. She collected their discs and placed them into her spirit ring along with any other valuables they held before walking over to Li Li who was still trying to figure out the trick with these 5 rods. He even had 10 of the souls he can store trying to help him figure it out. Jing innocently smiled at the cute little owlet.

She grabbed each of the rods and stuck each one into each other, creating a long rock staff that held 5 elements within its 5 segments. Li Li and his beast souls looked at her in awe. As if she just solved the biggest mystery plaguing the world. She could only helplessly smile at how cute he was. Once she connected the staff, she placed it inside her spirit ring.

After solving the trick of this room, the floor below her started to split open. Down below, she could sense people fighting and knew that the next treasure must be down there. She willingly let herself fall into the darkness with Ears and Peasant next to her. Li Li flew down because he had wings and thought it was stupid to fall when he could fly.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: While writing this chapter, i did realize that there are too many main characters inside of a sect like the Golden Serpent Sect. I was too hasty... There are two other giant sects similar to the sect the main characters are in and i could've easily saved a few for them. Not to mention adding a few wandering famous mc's for when they journey outside of the sect in the future. Ahh... I definitely shouldn't have added so many persons of fates in the sect. I'm regretting it.

What i should've done was made 1 or 2 persons of fates that were actually insane with their cheats and godlike luck that Jing would have no hope of going against them unless she used her wits, scps, and followers in ingenious and creative ways. Maybe i can still pull off something like that later in the story but right now, i doubt it. There are just too many, i'll have to kill off a few.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter btw. I wasn't too descriptive in describing Jing's actions to the men because there was ten of them. I literally could've wrote the whole chapter describing her torture of the men but i would rather save that for a character or characters that are worth it. None so far, as Jing hasn't had a real challenge yet for enemies. I'll have to change that to or things will get boring.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	60. Doing Something Nice

As Jing was falling down the hole, she placed her mask on to change her physique. Now, even if she encountered more disciples from the Wolfeng Gang, she wouldn't have to hide her abilities. With all these bloodthirsty disciples here, it was a good chance for her to make some progress on her SCP-109 missions. She would also be able to take the rewards and gift them to her followers once they accomplished some of the missions, she gave them.

She also gave Li Li his own little owl-shaped mask that functioned the same as hers. They were a matching pair in color scheme. She placed his mask on and he changed forms too. Jing's new form was of a young boy. Li Li's was that of a bat. They were now ready to act as free as they wanted. Down below them was a large pool of water, even from the height she was at, Jing could see that it was filled with disciples from both Wolfeng Gang and the other group.

She unscrewed SCP-109's cap and created a moving wave to catch her before she fell into the water like the rest. Li Li slowly flew down and landed on her shoulder as she stood on top of the water's surface using the army canteen's water. The water was incredibly clear and pure. Jing could see the drowned bodies all the way at the bottom of this large pond and it was a deep pond. Ears and Peasant just fell into the water behind her and scrambled to swim up to the top.

Jing ignored them as they would be fine with that lotus plant on their heads. She looked around to try and find the magical treasure of this place. So far, she could see nothing that resembled a spirit tool inside the water. Just cultivators swimming to the top so they could breathe. She made sure to have SCP-109's constantly shooting out water above her so that others will notice its strangeness when they notice her.

There had to be some trick to this room just like the others... It couldn't want them to swim until they get tired and drown. That wouldn't make sense nor would it follow the same patterns as the other two rooms before this one. Jing's eyes found themselves focusing on Wenling down below. There were a lot of disciples trying to get to her. Members of the Wolfeng Gang protected her by stopping the others from coming close. In her hand was a helmet and in the other was her glaive.

But that helmet was in the hands of nine others as well, who were in a situation similar to Wenling. Jing figured it was just like what happened in the room before. There were multiple copies of the spirit tool and once they are all gathered together, they would merge into the original magical treasure. Stealing this treasure won't be as fun as it was taking the rock staff in the other room.

"It's too bad I won't be able to hear your screams." Jing sighed.

SCP-109 started to spew out water at a faster speed. Jing used her body martial art, Neptune's Prophet, to control the water inside of the canteen. Behind her, two massive tendrils of water rose into the air. With a leisure wave of her palm, it swept through the pond like an ancient monster of the sea. Bodies were knocked far into the sky or deeper into the pond. She made sure to target the Wolfeng Gang members as well.

It would endanger her identity if a powerful mysterious figure like herself allied themselves with the Bandit Faction. People would question why would someone as powerful as that ally with the Wolfeng Gang of all groups. The only acceptable explanation that Jing could think of was they had someone precious to them in their clutches as a hostage. But even that was too farfetched in her opinion.

But anyway, the Wolfeng Gang members that got hit by her attack didn't die. They might've been injured with a few broken bones at worst but nothing life threatening. The only ones to die from her water tentacle was the other group. It didn't take long for everyone to start aiming at her for attacking them but it was a pointless endeavor. With one of her water tendrils attacking those with the spirit weapons and the other collecting the treasures, Li Li was left to defend her.

He did so without even moving a single inch. A blue ghostly Worm Dragon manifested above him and dove into the waters to deal with those trying to attack his mother. Jing made sure to remind him not to kill those from the Wolfeng Gang but unlike Jing, Li Li didn't bother memorizing the faces of those from the group! He only knew Annoying Girl and Cocky Weakling. The soul of the Worm Dragon was indiscriminate in its killing. Its massive body was enough to shatter the bones of anything it rushed into.

Jing's eyes danced with joy at seeing the previous sparkling waters turn red. She sucked all the treasures into her spirit ring while laughing. Not leaving a single valuable object behind, no matter if it was something as common as a recovery pill or as valuable as an earth-ranked spirit tool. She could tell that everyone who was still alive wanted her dead with just their glares alone. But what could they do against overwhelming force?

Everyone cursed in their hearts as they wished death upon that stupid brat. If glares could kill then that masked kid would be dead dozens of times over. Just how unfair are the heavens that they have to suffer from something like this just because that kid's martial arts are more suited for a situation like this? If they were on land right now, that brat wouldn't stand half a chance against them!

"Bye bye, everyone. Thanks for the gifts!" Jing said with a playful smile as she pulled out a movement spell and teleported away.

"YOU STUPID FUCKING BRAT! I'LL RIP OUT YOUR MOTHER'S GUTS AND CHOKE HER WITH THEM!"

"Damn it..."

"We've come all this way just to lose out on everything?"

"How many people have we lost Vice Commander?" Wenling questioned.

"Around a quarter of our men died." Ears stated after looking around.

"Let's find a way out of here. We need to make up for losing so much time and resources." Wenling said just as a figure came falling from the sky with a big splash. A little white bird came flying down slowly after.

Jing panicked as she found herself immersed in water. She couldn't tell which way was up or which way was down.

"Well almost a quarter now." Ears corrected himself.

"I'll get her Commander!" Zihao dove down to try and help Jing but it turns out his help wasn't needed in the first place.

Jing pulled out a talisman from her bag and slapped it on herself. The Wolfeng Gang watched as a bubble formed from Jing's body, pushing away any water near her and sending her straight up to the surface of the water. Now that she could breathe again, she looked around to see herself in some sort of lake. She met eyes with the various Wolfeng Gang members swimming at the top of the water.

"What the hell kind of spell is that?"

"Seriously? Did she put herself in a qi bubble to stop herself from drowning?!"

"Isn't that one of the weakest shields a spellmaster can use? I never knew it could be used like that."

"My protégé is full of surprises..." Wenling complimented.

"Now let's see if she can do the same for all of us. I don't know about you bastards but I'm sick of swimming around like a damn fish." Ears complained.

Everyone started to swim towards Jing who was inside her bubble. Li Li landed on top of the bubble and looked down on all the swimming disciples. The gang could tell that he was mocking them just because he could fly but Jing was probably their only chance of escaping this place. Getting on the bad side of her pet wasn't going to help them in any way.

"Jing, is there a way you can help us get out of here?" Wenling asked.

"I could try and make a movement array but I'll need everyone to gather around as close as they can. With this many people, I can't choose where we're going to be teleported..."

"So, you're saying to be prepared for anything?" Ears asked. Jing nodded to his question.

"That's fine. As long as it's out of here. We need to recoup our losses, quickly." Wenling said.

"Losses?"

"We just got robbed by some stupid brat! Now we're even poorer than we were at the start of the Treasured Plains."

"Next time, I see that kid I swear I'll wring his little slender neck!"

"Oh... Sorry I wasn't any help..." Jing apologized as if she could've changed anything as a 4th stage Qi Gatherer.

"What were you doing that made you so late anyway? Were there still people up there?"

"I fell into an illusion with Li Li. It was hard for us to get out..." Jing said with embarrassment.

"Did you at least gain anything?" Ears asked irritated. Her talismans would've been useful in helping them.

"I got this after we broke free." Jing pulled out a necklace of tiny skulls. Wenling and Ears squinted to try and gleam anything about it.

The eye holes of the skulls lit up and stared at all the Wolfeng Gang members. Soon after, qi started to flow out of the necklace around Jing. That qi began to shape itself into large purple skulls that hovered around Jing's head. They spun around her while staring at all the others.

"What the hell? Why is it doing that? What are you doing?"

"It just activated on its own!" Jing said, just as shocked as everyone else.

"Well just ignore it for now. You can figure out what it does when we get out of here." Ears spoke.

"Okay..." Jing replied, a little bit creeped out by the skulls. She began to start working on the movement formation to teleport them out of here.

* * *

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	61. Just Another Day

"Hey don't run so fast! What kind of disciples are being trained at the sect that would run away from little ole me?!" Hu Tao yelled as he chased his prey through the woods.

'You insane bastard! Everyone knows that fighting with you is a waste of time!'

'You're anything but little you crazy fucker! Who'd want to fight the Fighting Maniac who treats every battle as a life or death fight!?'

'Little my ass! I'm not risking my life fighting with this Fighting Retard!'

The disciples didn't take Hu Tao's bait and ran for their lives. They ran with everything they had to escape from the Fighting Maniac. He didn't care about magical treasures, he didn't care about spirit stones, he didn't even care for the temptation of the flesh! All he wanted was to fight! He was insane! A true madman was after their lives.

Hu Tao was amused seeing them all scurry like rats. They even used valuable treasures that could only be used a single time to slow him down. But while chasing them was fun and all, he was hoping they were actually running to meet up with their groups. Then it would be a real party!

His eyes locked on to the strongest rat running and it was a female disciple at the 3rd stage. He wondered why she was running from him when he was one stage below her. A 3rd stage Qi Consolidator usually wasn't this cowardly. They must have something important to hide if they aren't willing to fight him! Everyone knows that the lower realms don't stand a chance against those at a higher realm. Unless they're from a great clan, family, or a prodigy.

"You're mine, sweet cheeks!" Hu Tao lunged at her like a horny monkey from atop a tree branch.

"I wouldn't have it any other way you scum!" Hu Tao suddenly realized it was a trick! Just before he jumped at her, she swallowed something!

She wanted him to attack her! His infinitely tough chains protected his body from being split in half by the girl's powerful qi blades. Hu Tao couldn't help but whistle in amazement as he was sent flying backward. Whatever she just swallowed made her three times as strong as she was before. Now this was an unexpected present. Her martial technique wasn't simple either. The way that her qi coated around her arms made it seem like she was wielding two blades that could split through any metal. Something like that takes a lot of qi control and talent. Hu Tao could do it too but he preferred not doing something like that. It drained his qi faster than he would like and the chains were more useful as weapons.

"Who the hell are you?" Hu Tao asked.

Someone with this much talent trying to kill him. It wasn't often that Hu Tao could get a fight like this. If he knew the reason why, he could piss them off even more by insulting the reason why they're even after him. Maybe she would be willing to swallow a second pill if he made her mad enough. Then this could be an actual battle for a few minutes.

"You don't remember who I am after what you did to me? After who you killed!?" She screamed.

"Nope. Come on, refresh my memory, will ya? I'm sure I would remember a sexy piece of ass like you. Did I kill your boyfriend? Brother? Sister? Father? Mother? Its gotta be one of those right?" Hu Tao casually joked.

"You... You... Monster! The world would be better off with villains like you dead!" She dashed towards him, riled up with righteous fury.

"Ah come on. You're not helping me paint the picture here." Hu Tao easily dodged her deadly slashes. "Now which weakling was it that I hurt to get you to come after me? It had to be your boyfriend, right?" Her attacks increased in ferocity.

"Aha! So that's who it was. You know the punk bitch wasn't any good for you anyway. If he died by me that just means I was the better man. You should spend a night with me and I'll make you forget all about that weak little shit you had before." Hu Tao teased even more.

Now this was getting a reaction out of her real good. Her attacks were becoming much sharper and filled with viciousness. Every slice of her qi blades was targeting one of his vital points. It's too bad that she was still so fucking sloppy. He could see where her attacks were coming before she even threw them. But she had potential to entertain him in the future. Just right now, she was nothing more than a little brat letting out her frustration over her dead boy toy.

Hu Tao whipped his leg into her gut, disabling her with a single concentrated attack. Using all the physical strength in his leg, it sent her flying into a tree, snapping it in half. Hu Tao could see it in her eyes the exact moment she realized that she was outclassed. The pain of his kick didn't even need to set in before she realized that she lost. As his kick was heading towards her, she understood that avoiding it was impossible. The power behind that simple looking attack was more than anything she threw at him so far.

The look in her eyes that were filled with such rage and blind fury earlier all came crashing down. She was still weaker than him. Far weaker than she thought she was. He stood over her with an amused smile. That kick of his was supposed to knock her out cold but her spirit was better than he gave her credit for. She stared at him with the same glare she had before they started their 'fight'. Wait no, her glare looked even scarier now. Good, if she keeps training maybe one day, she'll be able to give him a good work out. But right now, she couldn't even move after taking his one kick. A kick that was used without any qi infused into it.

That was one of the weaknesses of qi cultivators. They couldn't take a hit to save their lives! Which is why this girl was doing nothing but glaring at him right now. She couldn't do anything else but glare! Her body was too damaged.

That's why most of them use life-protecting treasures and talismans to defend against physical hits. Hu Tao was a cultivator who travelled down both paths. Both a body cultivator and a qi cultivator. He wondered why she didn't have any of her own life-protecting amulets or spells of her own though. With martial art techniques that skilled, she couldn't be a peasant like him. She had to be from a cultivation clan.

"See ya later girlie. I've got some actual fights to be getting to. Next time get some actual fighting experience under your belt. Cause you suck shit at fighting right now. You might got some high-ranked martial techniques but those aren't worth jack shit if you can't use them in a real fight." Hu Tao turned around and waved goodbye.

"Wait...!" She spat blood as she tried to speak despite her injuries. "Do... you really not know who I am...?" She asked. Was what happened to her and Shen so insignificant? Or was this something that Hu Tao does so frequently that he can't keep track?

"Should I know your name weakling?" Hu Tao vanished from her sights, leaving her all alone coughing up a large amount of blood from her mouth.

* * *

Meili sent qi into the talisman within her pocket. Her internal injuries began slowly healing with a glowing green light covering her body. The sky looked so far away today...

'Would you think that the sky looks too far away to grab, like me, or close enough to hold in your hand, Shen?' She laughed, coughing up more blood.

You were always so optimistic and kind compared to everyone else. It isn't fair... It isn't fair that such a horrible person is allowed to live so freely while yours was taken for doing what was right. Is being a good person such a bad thing? Why do the heavens seek to reward the vile and punish the kind?

'I can't accept living in such a world like that. If the heavens themselves are against me, then I will shatter the heavens! If no one else finds a problem with villains like Hu Tao running around, then I will! If being kind, caring, and magnanimous is looked down on, then I will be the most shunned person in the world! This world is in need of a changing and I'm the only one who realizes it. I can't do it alone and I can't do it while I'm so weak. I need more strength. Enough strength to change the world into a place that would make Shen proud...' She wiped the tears off her face and staggered off into the distance.

She can't go against the world with her strength as it is now. Even if she was the Sect Leader's daughter of the powerful Emerald Grass Slaying Sect, it didn't mean anything if her own strength was insignificant. Meili would have to increase her training 100-fold if she wished to make any real progress. As things stand now, she was alone, weak, and had no allies. Finding allies would have to come later. No one would want to follow behind a weak leader.

These Treasured Plains would be her greatest chance to increase her strength. She would find no other better opportunity to quickly rise in power than now. Meili would say that it was her only chance. She had to find numerous treasures within the next month before the Treasured Plains end. Then she would get her revenge on Hu Tao at the Grand Tournament. Knowing that he'll only get even stronger than he is right now, she might even have to increase her training 200 times as much.

"Shen... I won't let your memory fade away. I will change this world into something that would make you proud. I promise. Just watch me." Meili vowed.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was actually a bit of a surprise for me. The direction i planned for Meili was initially not something like this. This was far more than i could have ever thought to take her character. When i was first making her character she was simply a prop. A device used to engage Hu Tao and a person of fate. Her personality, goals, and opinions were not in my thoughts at all as my focus was more on Hu Tao and Shen.

But I can see how i came to this point with her character. Usually in xianxias, when the main character 'dies" or disappears for some time the love interest(s) are grieving and doing nothing productive with their time. I guess i decided to subvert that 'cliche' if you want to call it, and make it so that Meili wasn't being useless. She was actually trying to get revenge and growing stronger on her own for her loved one. Although i'm not a fan of romance, i am a fan of characters taking things into their own hands and working hard to change things.

I love characters that grow through hard work, effort, and constantly are beset by troubles they have no control over. Kind of funny that i'm saying that when our main character hasn't had to work hard at all yet or suffer in any meaningful way BUTTTT i still got time to change that. I can still make this world crazy and troublesome for Jing before she reaches her full potential.

Oh and Hu Tao causing unneeded future troubles as usual :D.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	62. Getting Some Goodies

"Hoho... There you are little bird." Hu Tao said.

He just got finished taking out another small faction group from the Inner Court. Blood stained his bare chest, chains, and face while corpses surrounded him. There were bodies that were clawed into pieces, corpses that had gaping holes in them, and corpses with red chain-like marks around their skin. It was a refreshing work out even though they were a bunch of weaklings. When enough weaklings group up together, it can feel better than fighting a single strong opponent.

"Hoo." Li Li greeted.

"Did Jing bring my goodies? I made sure to wipe out a lot of those groups for her eventual move in to the Inner Court." Hu Tao asked.

"Pii." Li Li took a look at the massacred bodies and gave a certain look at Hu Tao.

"Oh yeah, you're a maneater. It's easy to forget how strong you really are when you look like that. Here ya go. I know this is your favorite." Hu Tao handed Li Li one of the hearts from the corpses.

"Huu!" Li Li tried to swallow it in one bite but his beak was too tiny to consume it whole.

The heart was stuck in his mouth, forcing him to drop it on the ground and tear it into pieces before swallowing it whole. Hu Tao patiently waited for the little spirit beast to finish eating his tip. If she really did manage to get what he wanted, then it's worth the wait. Plus, the crazy little owl was more than a match for him in a full out fight. Back in the day when he constantly visited Jing, he tried fighting the little bird after hearing from Jing how he would be a good training partner for him.

He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. The bird was nothing more than a 1st stage Qi Gatherer like Jing back then. That probably should've been the sign for him not to underestimate it just like he did to Jing in their first fight. But he didn't and properly got his ass kicked by a baby spirit beast eight stages below him. It was humiliating at first but Hu Tao quickly saw the benefits in being around that crazy bitch.

She would show him a world that he would never see on his own. She would take him places that he never would've thought to look at. Just by destroying his world beliefs one by one, she also widened his view at the same time. Back then all he ever thought about was the next fight, who was the next fight, and how would he get his next fight? But ever since becoming Jing's slave, well his goals haven't changed much, but now he was looking forward to what kind of fun he could have sticking around Jing. How much more will she brighten up his life?

"Cuu." Li Li handed a spirit ring over to Hu Tao with his talon once he finished snacking and flew away.

Hu Tao quickly released the objects inside the spirit ring and laughed joyously.

"I knew I could count on that sadistic bitch! How in the fuck did she get these!? HAHAHA, it's so damn crazy it's almost hard to believe!" Hu Tao exclaimed happily.

In front of him laid a white puffy cloud, a golden bell with a string hooped around it, and a martial arts manual. Hu Tao greedily grabbed the rewards he asked from Jing after completing her tasks and showing proof of his completion. He made a small cut on his finger and let a drop of blood drip onto the cloud, claiming ownership over it. Now the cloud would only be controlled by his qi alone.

For the bell that would help refine his body, he just placed it around his neck like a necklace before snatching up the martial arts manual and taking a squat on his new ride. The way the cloud felt on his ass cheeks felt damn good! It was soft as shit! He had the cloud take off into the skies towards the Great Tower while he started to read about his new leg technique, The Wolf Pack Hunts Together. Hu Tao couldn't tell what rank this was but knew it had to be fucking good if Jing got it for him. He's been looking for a movement martial art for a long time and tried out plenty but none of them felt right for him so, he's been going without it. He's searched the library countless times and markets in different cities but he's never heard of this martial art or anything similar to its name.

Wherever Jing was getting this shit from was the real deal...

"But I'm just a fucking slave now! Hahahaha! Who cares about her background?!"

Hu Tao placed the book on the corner of his cloud and stood straight up. He thought he would have to be conscious of his balance but it didn't feel like he was going to fall at all. He doubted that even if he had to fight on this cloud, he wouldn't feel unbalanced at all! Soaring through the skies while practicing martial arts. Now this was something he never thought he would experience so soon. Just flying alone was the dream of many cultivators, that's why any spirit tools or weapons that could help one fly would be wanted by all.

It wasn't Hu Tao's dream but he was now living it! He didn't understand what was so appealing about flying anyway. There wasn't anyone he could fight in the sky except for flying spirit beasts and animals. Besides that, what else is there really in the sky? As far as he knows there aren't any people he could fight in the sky except for cultivators at the Earthly Immortal stage. Trying to fight someone at that stage right now was complete suicide, even for him. He wouldn't be able shit himself before dying if he faced someone like that. Fighting someone 5 realms above him was out of his reach for now.

The Great Tower was giant fucking thing that extended past the clouds. It was black all over and felt like it was giving off an aura that said 'Don't fuck with me or else.' Hu Tao grinned at that aura. Down below him, he could see groups of people walking into the tower from the large entrance. Last time Hu Tao tried coming to the Great Tower, he was kicked out on the first floor and only rewarded with a few spirit stones.

The Great Tower was a magical treasure from a long ass time ago that was owned by a cultivator at the True Immortal Stage. They say he crafted it as a training gift to his daughter's son. He hoped it would allow him to rise through the heavens by rewarding his hard work, clever mind, and determination from going through the floors. Going through the floors since an early age allowed him to rise far quicker than his peers. He gained the title Legendary Prodigy in no time. Too bad the idiot died before he could conquer the tower. His strength, magical treasures, and hundreds of tamed spirit beasts were envied and wanted by everyone.

Everyone knew that he got them from the Great Tower and everyone wanted a piece of it. It took the joining of 10 ancient clans to destroy the Legendary Prodigy's family and 100 lesser clans to overwhelm the Legendary Prodigy himself. By the end of that battle, the entire cultivation world was flipped over. Many clans and their legacies were destroyed or robbed by others in the clash. Everyone was seeking benefits for themselves and there was no one who cared about honor or face at a time like that when they could become the top sect, clan, or family in the cultivation world.

It was unknown how the Great Tower found itself in the Golden Serpent Sect but every 10 years, the sect would allow clans, sects, and others enter the Great Tower for free. This was to save themselves from being collaborated against and exterminated by others. The treasures inside the Great Tower were too valuable to be monopolized by one group. The sect constantly got complaints from others to make it 5 years but the sect was too strong and proud to be bullied like that. It was 10 years or they would declare war with the entire cultivation and flip it upside down just like what happened in the past. They also promised to target the strongest first and cripple them through forbidden life-threatening martial arts before heading to the weaker groups.

He wondered just how far he would be able to get now that he's this strong? Hu Tao stored his cloud into his new shiny spirit ring and scaled down to the tower's entrance with his chains. His chains could barely penetrate the walls on the Great Tower but it was enough for him to get down smoothly. He swaggered on inside and was overjoyed at the hundreds of disciples waiting inside. With this many people trying the tower, he definitely won't get bored by the end of the Plains.

"Excuse me. Sorry. My bad." Hu Tao knocked anyone in his way to the ground just by knocking into their shoulders. On purpose.

"Who dares!?"

"Are you trying to die before the floors even start!?"

"To think there was someone who was willing to perish to my Bloody Sword techniques so soon."

He looked back with a smirk and they once they realized who he was they shut their mouths and split into the crowd.

"Tch. Pussies." Hu Tao shrugged.

The first floor of the Great Tower would be opening soon. As far as he knows, there is no max limit to the people allowed inside. Every disciple at the start of the Treasured Plains could've fit inside this giant ass room. The first floor opens once every 24 hours. So, Hu Tao was stuck here for a bit before he could have his real fun. Maybe he should continue working on his tasks while in here... He could see a few faction groups from the Inner Court inside. They'll be able to starve his boredom.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And we're gonna be with Hu Tao for a few chaps. This was a small little chapter that revealed some light on Hu Tao's character. Him knowing Li Li and his true strength, being the only one actually accomplishing the tasks given by Jing and being rewarded for it, his feelings about Jing, and a little bit of world building about the Great Tower.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	63. He Grabbed Them By The What?

"Is that the famous beast tamer group, I see over there?" Hu Tao walked over with huge grin on his face.

"Leave us alone, Hu Tao. My faction will not be wasting our energy on fighting you."

"What's with the cold shoulder Hop? I'm just coming over to give my greetings as fellow disciples." Hu Tao lied with ease.

"Do you think we don't know? We know you have been hunting other factions in the Inner Court. Everyone knows. Don't expect a battle from any of the big factions either. Everyone is looking to avoid you in the Treasured Plains. Stay away from us." Hop's tamed spirit beast growled at Hu Tao.

"What a cute kitty. What's his name?" Hu Tao asked while getting closer.

"She's a girl and don't make me repeat myself Hu Tao. Leave us alone." Hop's giant Golden White Tigeress bared her fangs at Hu Tao, widening his smirk even further.

"Come on, are you really that scared of my greetings, Hop? A cultivator at the 5th stage such as yourself shouldn't be so scared of a 2nd stage like me." Hu Tao riled even further.

"Enough!" One of Hop's subordinates tried to kill Hu Tao by thrusting her staff towards his throat.

"Ooh a brave one. You got more balls than your own leader does." Hu Tao didn't even need to dodge, his chains blocked the strike for him.

"Shut your dog mouth you crazy bastard! I'm more than enough for someone like you!" She spat through her teeth.

"Ya Ya! Get back here now!" Hop commanded.

"But Hop! He-"

"Now!"

Ya Ya hopped away from Hu Tao and the Heavenly Collectors walked away from him. If he tried forcefully engaging with them, he'd be too outnumbered. It would be a fun battle but one he wasn't sure was worth it. If they were willing to run away from him now, then they definitely would start running once he killed a few of them.

'Maybe the other factions would like to play with me instead.' Hu Tao smiled as he walked to the next faction.

Hu Tao spent most of his time trying to get other factions to fight him but just like the first group, they ran away or took the brunt of his non-stop insults. None of them wanted to fight him! What kind of cowards was his sect raising if they couldn't even handle a little fight?! This was seriously going to get in the way of his fun if everyone he met ran away from him.

"It's time!"

"The first floor is opening!"

"Let's head inside! Quick!"

The locked door from atop of the stairs slowly opened as everyone rushed towards it. Hu Tao wasn't as excited as they were, he casually strolled his way over. Being one of the last people to walk into the door, Hu Tao met the same view he saw a few years ago when he first entered this floor so many years ago. The Protecting Floor. If he wanted to make it to the next floor, he had to make sure that his side of the town suffered the least damage.

The town had 3 sides that needed defending which were the front and the sides. Hu Tao was assigned to the front, the hardest place to defend. If he was the same person, he was a couple years ago, then he would probably die in this upcoming beast tide. But now, things were different. Hu Tao wasn't worried in the slightest about dying on this first floor.

So, until the beast tide started, he decided to take a quick nap on top of the town's gates. Even if the others were completely useless and trash cultivators. He would still be able to ace this floor with his chains and metal ball. Nothing this beast wave could throw at him would be able to get past his weapons. And if that wasn't enough, his martial arts could easily handle the rest.

"I got this in the bag." He chuckled before dozing off.

Those who were also assigned to protect the front of the village with Hu Tao were currently panicking. Being assigned to the front was an absolute death sentence as the beast tide often comes from the forest directly north of the village. Rarely does the beast tide ever come from the west or east side. Knowing this fact, everyone was trying to prepare the best as they could to defend the front or cry knowing that they would die soon.

"Spellmasters! Set up defensive formations on the front gates and walls! Those with healing pills or spirit tools that can help others, stay on the wall at all times! Those cultivator with no special talents, get ready to defend the wall from up top!" Someone started commanding.

"Hey, who the fuck are you to start barking orders at me?"

"The one who wants to make sure he gets out of this alive! Now either shut up and listen to me or get ready to die by nightfall."

"Tch. Fucking 9th stage Qi Gatherer. Who does he think he is?" The 8th stage Qi Gatherer complained.

"Anyone else got any complaints?! If not, start moving!"

Nobody else spoke up and the cultivators started to prepare for the beast tide with no fighting at all surprisingly. If they needed any supplies, they would go inside the town and ask them from the citizens. The citizens weren't actual people but creations made by the tower. The beasts in the upcoming beast tide were similar in that regard. They didn't have real flesh, bones, or blood. Just a single spirit stone located somewhere within their body, giving them life and strength.

The time for the beast tide was close approaching. Night was coming. All three sides managed to get their defenses in ready for the tide but everyone could see that the front side was the most heavily defended. Hu Tao peacefully slept during this frantic time and quite a few people noticed him. One of those people happened to be the handsome youth that took command of the front.

"Wake up!" The young leader clapped his hands in front of the snoozing Hu Tao.

"Huh?" Hu Tao slowly rose up.

He got very close and personal with the young man and stared deeply into his eyes. The mask wearing young man quickly looked away before coughing into his hand and getting some space from Hu Tao.

"Do you not understand that we could all die tonight!? What are you doing resting in a situation like this!? Just because you're a Qi Consolidator that's at the 2nd stage doesn't mean that you'll be safe from this tide either! If you find yourself surrounded, even you would die from that many beasts!"

"You sure talk a lot for a guy. You sound more like a bitch than a man." Hu Tao casually stated while yawning.

He wore a black mask over his mouth and nose.

"Excuse me?!" Everyone's eyes found their way to them.

His body looked pretty slender and his hands looked tender.

"You do got some balls though to talk to me like this though. You're a noble aren't you?" Hu Tao started cracking his bones.

"What?! Why would you-"

"The fearless attitude, the shitty fucking perfume, and the lack of respect to someone stronger than you."

He couldn't respond back.

"Now, you got two choices here if you want to live. The first one is kowtowing to me while calling me Daddy Tao in front of all these weaklings or..." Hu Tao leaned in real close to their ear. "Tell me why you're hiding your identity." He suddenly cupped their crotch with his hand, feeling the smooth canyon in between their legs.

"You dare!?" Her face was entirely red and in her hands was a sword of good quality.

She vanished from her previous spot and her sword appeared in front of Hu Tao's face, shining a deadly gleam. She was going all out and actually trying to kill him! She also stopped hiding her true cultivation and fully released it. She was 2 stages above Hu Tao! If she was a body cultivator instead of a qi cultivator, he would've actually just gotten his throat cut! But since she wasn't, he managed to sway his head out of the way in time and casually slapped her away.

"I'll kill you!" She screamed. As a barrier shattered in front of her. It must have taken the damage for his attack instead of her.

"I'm seeing a lot of barking and not a lot of biting from this bitch. Are you going to talk me to death or fight me, My Lady?" He sarcastically asked.

The sword in her hands began glowing as she ran towards him again. She took a swipe towards him and Hu Tao saw her blade coming at him from 5 different directions! Above, from the front, left, right, and below! Just what was this martial art, he couldn't retreat! Hu Tao used his chains to block, he heard 5 distinct dings before being blasted away by the girl's palm.

"Not bad. Not bad. It's hard to find chicks from cultivating families that actually know how fight. Maybe we'll be able to continue this foreplay later but for now, I got a wall to protect." The bell around Hu Tao's neck softly rung. A yellow qi wave emitted from the bell and went directly into Hu Tao's body, using the injuries from that small exercise to refine his body into something stronger, using his qi as a medium to strengthen his flesh, organs, and bones.

"This isn't over! You will take responsibility for what you did! I will chase you to the ends of the continent if I have to!" She yelled.

"See you in a couple hours, Hairless." Hu Tao jumped off the gate and landed in front of all the defenses. The youthful young lady's face was blushed a deep red as she swore to get revenge on Hu Tao.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't remember what chapter it was but one of the commenters requested that i added a young master that was secretly female. The youthful young girl in this chapter was added because of that request and i had no reason not to add it. As i'm writing this author's note, i believe that i can involve a small mini-story involving her and Hu Tao in the future. Maybe she runs into some trouble when someone pieces together her true identity and wants to kill her but Hu Tao intervenes for some unexpected reason and saves her. I'll have to think more on it but i kind of want to have her troubles somehow be involved with a incident that Jing's group is also troubled or involved with.

Anyway, that's it for this chapter. We'll be with Hu Tao until the end of this first floor.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	64. How Much Of A Fight Could This Be?

The beast tide was here and Hu Tao was ready. He sent most of his qi into the ball attached to the end of his chain, greatly increasing its size. He saved the rest of his qi for when the spirit beasts got closer. He wouldn't be able to pull off his idea if he ran out of qi before the stampeding beasts came closer. This giant ass ball wasn't easy to move with just his bare strength. He still had his limits.

"Are you even listening to me?! Get back with everyone else and wait till the beasts come to us!" The chick from before yapped in his ears.

"Yeah, listen Ju Ju-"

"It's Jie!" She corrected.

"Whatever. Maybe that barking orders to people worked in that cozy little noble family of yours but here, shit don't work like that. You keep trying to tell me what to do and I won't be so forgiving anymore." Hu Tao's killing intent started leaking.

"You're infuriating! I don't care anymore! If you want to die, then go die! But don't you dare interfere with my plan and get the rest of us killed!" Jie stormed off in a huff and Hu Tao smiled.

Finally, now he could focus solely on the beasts ahead of him. All that yap yap yap in his ears was getting on his nerves. If he didn't know any better, he would think that she wanted his dick instead of his life! Getting involved with nobles was always fun though. They have so many internal problems that if you take care of one, three more come spilling out into the open.

Those animals were close enough now. Hu Tao could see the last row of the animals coming out of the woods. The tide wouldn't start to split until they reached about midway across the grassy plain. He planned on attacking before they split to cause the most damage. Which was right now!

Hu Tao lifted the giant ball with his chains and threw it into the air before following after it. He made sure to line up his shot perfectly down the middle as he appeared behind the large sphere. His fists were covered in his chains as he punched it with all of his strength towards the beast tide. The sphere blasted through the skies without restraint. Any spirit beasts staring at that unstoppable object felt like they were staring death right in the face. Their fates were already sealed and there was nothing they could do but accept it.

And accept it they did. The metal ball absolutely demolished every spirit beast that was in the middle row of the beast wave. The large giant ape in the back was the only survivor in the middle row. It tried to catch the spinning ball before it got hit by it but its power was far greater than it expected! It tore the skin off of its hands before being able to stop it. Seeing its hands in such a state enraged it. It wanted to beat on its chest to show its rage but it couldn't even do that! Its hands were severely injured. If it tried anything with them, a terrible pain would shoot up in its body. It glared at Hu Tao and promised to kill him when he got there.

Hu Tao gave it the middle finger in response while laughing. He did most of the work so, his participation score at the end should be good enough to get something good. Hu Tao used his chains to pull him over the defensive barriers in front of the front gate. This allowed him to get a nice seat on top of the barrier as the beasts came in. Hu Tao's attack affected the wave more than he thought it would.

A small portion of the animals were heading towards the front gate while most of them went to the left and right walls. The weaklings on his side started cheering for joy and praising the heavens after seeing the pathetic number of animals coming towards them. If they were excited about something like this, then they won't last long on the upper floors. Not that Hu Tao knew what was on the upper floors either. Last time he came here, he barely survived the beast tide and still lost. What he meant was that they didn't have the right mindset for the tower if they were glad that someone else saved them.

"It looks like you're not all as you seem either..." Jie spoke, suddenly appearing next to him.

"Unless you came up here to suck my dick, you can go back down." Hu Tao shooed her away.

"Argh! Why would you say something like that when I was trying to... Forget it! Go die creep" She did hop back down and Hu Tao was very thankful.

'So, she can listen...'

The rest of those weaklings could handle the remaining beasts. In the meantime, he could look out for any other interesting fighters here. On the right side, there wasn't anyone in charge like Jie was for his side. All of them were on the ground fighting the beasts before they could damage their wall. The rest were providing support from the back for the injured. They definitely weren't going to last long unless someone at the Qi Consolidation rank took on the beasts. Most of the spirit beasts from the front of the wave were in the Qi Gatherer stage. The only ones above that were the three Redback Apes at the 1st stage of the Qi Consolidation realm.

The left side was handling it better than the right side. Most of the factions in the Inner Court were placed over there. Hmm... Maybe he should make things a bit harder for them since they refused to fight him earlier. Hu Tao got up and sent his chains down towards the weak beasts trying to break the defensive array he was on. His chains wrapped around two beasts ramming their heads against the barrier. He whipped them over to left's side wall and watched as they crashed against it, damaging it. Those standing on the left side's wall were confused as the two beasts damaged their wall.

Where did they come from?! Because of it, their wall got damaged somehow! They looked up in the air and didn't see any flying beasts. Something didn't feel right... It only took a few more seconds before even more animals were splatting on their wall. They tried to stop them from cracking their side of the wall. Some attacked the animals before they dropped and knocked them away from the wall. Others used their swords to slice the beasts in half. And a small portion even caught some of them with their strong bodies!

This was when Hu Tao stopped throwing them and let the left side understand just who was fucking with them. He grinned while tossing a helpless boar in one hand and catching it repeatedly. How would they react to this? Would they want to fight? Would they cross over to the front side of the town to fight him? Hu Tao was excited, if they didn't stop him their lost was all but guaranteed.

"Hu Tao, you crazy bastard!"

"Fuck off!"

"Why don't you go die in a hole somewhere!"

To respond to all their kind words and complements, Hu Tao aimed the boar in his hands towards one of the wooden spikes used to defend against the beast tide. He tossed the boar directly at the wooden defense and watched as it completely destroyed it as it died on impact. This made them real pissed. All the strong guys were too busy dealing with the beasts up front. One of them was already dealing with the Redback Ape with their golden flames. They could do nothing but glare at Hu Tao while doing their best to defend against his living cannonballs.

"Is this even allowed!? Shouldn't the tower punish him for directly putting the village at risk!?"

"We need someone from the front to come back or our wall will be destroyed!"

"But who is strong enough to deal with Hu Tao!? We need them to-" Her words were cut off as a tossed snake just bit her face. She died from the venom within seconds.

The ones defending the wall called out for help but no one could spare any attention to them while defending against the beast tide. Hu Tao would've continued terrorizing the little weaklings but he has some business to attend to on his side. His side's Redback Ape was staring at him. You don't see that type of stare from just anyone. It's surprising how realistic these spirit beasts act. Just looking into those eyes filled with fury made it feel like he was going to fight someone worth fighting.

Hu Tao hopped off the top of the barrier and landed in front of the gorilla. He was the only animal remaining on their side and he wanted Hu Tao's head. The feeling wasn't mutual but it could be entertaining to see just how much of a work out this dumb monkey can give him. It was one stage below him and didn't look like a mutant. How much of a fight could this be?

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	65. Wolf vs Monkey

The gorilla stared into Hu Tao's eyes and slowly beat his chest. Its fists were bleeding on each strike but it didn't care. Each beat against its chest, seemed to shake the ground and air around it. The low-ranked spirit stone shards from the dead beasts Hu Tao killed slowly started to float towards it. The mournful pounding on its chest started to ramp up in speed.

'Now this was getting exciting... This never happened last time I came here.' Hu Tao could feel his blood rising.

The shards of the spirit stones stabbed into the flesh of the ape. Hu Tao watched as the sound of its roar and the power of its qi started rising. The fleshy hands of the spirit beast were being rapidly healed. Its cultivation rank was rising as well. Hu Tao had trouble following what was happening but he was excited nonetheless! Maybe this would turn out to become more than just a light stretch.

"ROARRR!" All it took was a single blink.

And Hu Tao was suddenly sent flying through the air. Huh? What just happened? Why was the gorilla so far away from him now? Then it hit him all at once. The pain of having his neck nearly snapped, his shattered ribs stabbing into his soft inner bits, and the stretching grin on his face after realizing that he just nearly died! Hu Tao sent his chains to stab into the earth beneath him, stopping his airborne flight and placing him back on the ground with his body in a complete mess.

He grabbed his crooked head and with a sickening crack, placed his neck back in the position it should be in. The bell around his neck started softly ringing as it tried to repair and strengthen the injuries in his body but before it could finish... Hu Tao let out an air-blasting howl that multiplied his power by how much pain his body was in. Hu Tao would've loved to let loose right now but with the current state his body was in, it would be impossible to deal with that gorilla.

No matter how much qi and physical power was in his body after increasing his power, you couldn't fight someone with a completely demolished rib cage and pierced organs. Hu Tao sent his increased qi reserves into the ringing bell, accelerating its refining process and fixing his internal damage. By the time the damage was fixed, all that qi he just got was used to fix himself back up. That monkey bastard landed a good hit on him. He could've just died right there without even making it a good last fight!

The ape skipped 2 small stages after taking in those spirit stone shards from its allies, giving it a one stage advantage over Hu Tao. Since it was so kind enough to give him such a loving tap that nearly killed him, he wouldn't hold back in giving him a love tap of his own. Hu Tao wrapped his fists in his chains and disappeared with surprising speed. The gorilla roared as it accepted the challenge. The two nearly landed a blow on each other at the same time as both of them aimed to strike each other. It seems like it could keep up with him too.

The redback's fist just slightly missed Hu Tao's annoyingly handsome face while Hu Tao's struck directly in the middle of its chest, sending it just as far as it sent him flying. The damage was similar to his as well. Hu Tao shaped the end of the chains on his fist into a drill and completely tore a large hole through the chest of the spirit beast. Seeing the wounds it suffered, enraged the beast even more than before. Hu Tao grinned as the real fight was about to start now. That little wound he gave it didn't mean much since it was a beast created by the tower. The true source of its power was the spirit stone hiding somewhere in its body.

The two leapt a great distance towards each other and landed ground-shaking blows on one another. A jaw-shattering uppercut from below that launched it into the air. A double fist hammer punch down on Hu Tao's spine that cracked all the bones in his back. Hu Tao dropped to the ground from the hit and flipped forward with his legs wrapped in his chains to kick the beast right in the face! Causing it to slide back with a broken nose and a pissed off expression. The two continued this type of slug off for minutes.

* * *

But as time went on, things only got worse for the redback. The injuries he needed to heal were taxing on the spirit stone within his brain. Despite having the support of its fallen allies' shards in him, it still wasn't enough to heal like the human in front of it. No matter how hard it hit the human, it bounced right back up even stronger! Its body was getting tougher the more they fought when at first it only took one punch to nearly kill it before! If things continued like this, it would only spell the end for himself.

If punching the human wouldn't work, then it only had one thing left to try. He only had one chance to try this. If this move failed then that would be it. The human's body would be too tough for him to try and kill. He would have to retreat and ask for aid from its brothers. The human was coming! Now was his chance!

* * *

Hu Tao was putting his new movement martial art to good use as he slashed at the gorilla from all over. One second, he was in front of the beast clawing a deep chunk into its pecs, the next he was rending the flesh from its back, and after that laughing as it tried to catch him. But all of it sudden it stopped trying to catch him and let him attack. What was this stupid animal planning? It has already done him a favor by wrecking his body and letting his bell refine it to a better state than it was before. Maybe he should indulge it and see what it has in mind.

Hu Tao appeared in front of the ape and stuck his claws deep into its stomach. The beast grabbed his arm and firmly grasped his shoulder. He couldn't move. That look in the beast's eyes also told him that this was its final move as a fighter. Hu Tao grinned.

"Alright you hairy bastard, show me what you got." He felt the grip on his arm and back tightening.

This piece of shit was trying to crush him like a grape! His chains moved like flying daggers and stabbed through the ape's body. The serpent-like steel weaved in and out of the beast's body as if it was an immortal seamstress's needles, knitting divine fabric itself. The gorilla didn't bother wasting its energy trying to repair itself either. This big fucker wanted him dead! Hu Tao's bones were slowly snapping and breaking under the final resolve of the animal.

"Ha, really? Now this is not as fun as earlier. It would've been better if you used up all your strength in a final attack that wasn't something like this. Like a final punch or kick. That would've been fun to fight against." Hu Tao casually chatted as his body was being crushed.

"Bastards like you never have good ends you know. Suicidal tactics don't work on me anymore. AWOOO!" Hu Tao howled, increasing his strength from the pain.

He grabbed the wrist of the ape and snapped it, the animal continued to try and kill him with its one good arm on his back but Hu Tao had enough. It obviously had nothing left to show him. The desperate look in its eyes as things were falling apart all around it. It was so realistic that Hu Tao couldn't help but smile at that face!

"Hahahaha! Holy shit is that a pathetic fucking look! The tower makes a damn good copy of real spirit beasts." He grabbed the monkey by its throat with both of his hands and lifted it into the air.

He squeezed and squeezed, taking the breath out of the amusing bastard. It couldn't resist even if it wanted to at this point. Hu Tao's strength was too much. With a splattering gush of blood, Hu Tao's chain pierced through the spirit stone hiding in its brain, killing it. The floor ended soon after and now it was time for the tower to tally up the scores.

Up in the sky, laid the results of the first floor's participants. There was a picture of himself in first place. The results showed the number of kills he got, how much he participated in the overall event, and if he passed or failed. Seeing that shiny golden #1 next to his face was satisfying. The rewards when he gets to the second floor are no doubt going to be quite gracious and plentiful. The tower is known to reward those based on their achievements.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	66. Wan Qing's New Look

"Defend yourself Ni Xong! Kill him or he will kill you." Wan Qing harshly said.

Ni Xong was currently standing in front of an Emerald Lightning Snake. Their cultivation was the same but Ni Xong was shivering just at the sight of the beast. They both were at the 4th stage as Qi Gatherers. Wan Qing was trying to have him grow a spine or he'll die before he knows it. And she did not almost die against Kun Lao just to have a worthless pet. She will change his cowardly nature even if she has to force it out of him.

"Fight!" She ordered.

Ni Xong ran forward with his eyes closed waving his fists like a windmill. It looked pathetic but the snake was frightful of Ni Xong. It slithered backwards as it tried to find an opening to bite the young panda. The wind blowing from Ni Xong's giant golden gauntlets was enough to put fear into the snake. Prey that acted unpredictable was dangerous. If it wasn't careful, it could be killed and eaten instead.

Ni Xong heard the snake hissing from the side of him and started waving his fist in that direction instead. The snake kept trying to circle around behind him but Ni Xong continued to swing his arms wherever he heard the snake's movements. The snake wouldn't live long if it got hit but it knew the bear wouldn't live long if it could get its venom in. The snake sized up the cowardly bear that was terrified of it. Its eyes were barely open to see if the snake was still in front of it.

"Hiss!" The panda started waving its fists immediately in response.

This wasn't worth the meat. The snake started to slither away only to be stopped by Wan Qing's threatening figure. Those massive mounds on her chest that was enough to smother any man to a heavenly slumber. A tight slim figure with a shapely behind and an attitude that was expected out of any cultivator with great talent. Wan Qing looked like an actual woman! Her eyes were sharp but feminine, she had soft pink lips that could tempt those who stared for too long, and skin so soft it was like a baby's bottom.

The snake knew it only had two choices. Die trying to escape from the human or face the bear and try to win. It took the second choice without a doubt and recklessly charged towards the bear. The Emerald Lightning Snake boosted its speed using its innate lightning qi and leaped towards the bear. Qi in the form of lightning sparked around its body. Ni Xong visibly cried out in fear once it saw this and increased the speed of its windmill punch even further.

Despite having his eyes closed for a majority of this situation, Xong managed to slightly open his eyes and watch as the snake was unable to break past the speed of his fists. His gauntlet came smashing down on the skull of the snake, knocking it into the ground. It wasn't dead though, it raised its body and started moving weirdly. He won! He beat the snake! Just like he was asked! He looked at Wan Qing with joy in his eyes.

"What are you waiting for!? Kill it already!" She ordered.

Ni Xong looked at the funny moving snake and then back at Wan. The golden panda carefully walked over to snake and picked it up with his gloved hand. He pinched it with his index finger and thumb as he placed the head of the snake near his mouth. With a flesh-tearing bite, the mutant panda ripped the head off of the serpent with its teeth. Seeing the look on Wan's face was enough to tell him that he was doing something right. He continued to eat the snake's entire body.

"Next time, don't waste time being so afraid of something weaker than you. Get on." She opened up her fan and sat on top of it while it was hovering in the air.

Ni Xong clumsily climbed up on the flying fan and sat in Wan Qing's lap as they took off towards the Great Volcano to catch up with the others. Wan Qing didn't want to hold the group back from acquiring treasures just because she needed to train her spirit beast. With the strange talisman made by Jing, she could find their location by sending her qi into the special slip and wait for them to respond by sending their qi into the talisman as well with the intention of wanting to give their location. It seems they just entered the Great Volcano area.

That's good, they shouldn't have met with much trouble then. All the treasure near the entrance should've also been taken by the other disciples. They did spend a while inside that illusion formation and in the Great Plains. So, it should be some time before they encounter some magical treasure in the Great Volcano.

Wan Qing arrived at the Great Volcano and took in the sights. Volcanoes were all over the place. She could see volcanoes right under her and volcanoes as far as her sight could see. Lava made itself known in numerous places across this area. Lava rivers, lava waterfalls, spirit beasts who drank and bathed in the lava, and many fire-natured plants across the rocky hardened earth. This place is paradise for those who practice fire-based martial arts and those talented in water-based martial arts. Wan figured they were here to help Ying find something suitable for her. None of the others seemed to have martial arts related to fire.

"Come here little Roses! Ying needs a mystic flame and you're her ticket to getting one!" She heard a familiar voice shouting from down below.

Qing looked over her fan and saw Ying swinging her sword madly while chasing after a group of girls. They looked like they were running with everything they had, trying to escape from her. Bing and Lei Zhi were looking away in embarrassment as the murderous young lady swung her gigantic blade left and right to take the heads of the girls in front of her. Qing flew down towards them and hopped off her fan with Ni Xong.

Bing aimed his shield at her and Lei Zhi waved at her.

"You want to fight me as well?" Wan Qing asked with an arrogant smirk.

"Where did you steal that Golden Panda from?" Bing glared at her.

"Where do you think I got him from?" Wan responded back.

"Hold on Bing. She's not our enemy." Lei Zhi told him.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"That's Wan Qing." Lei Zhi stated.

"PFFFFT! I know you're blind Zhi but now isn't the time for jokes! She could be one of the top members from Fearsome Garden." Bing said.

"I'm not joking. Can't you see? She looks the exact same!" Lei Zhi argued.

"That woman does not look like Wan Qing in the... Well... She could pass as his older sister but that isn't proof enough that she is Wan Qing!"

"Jing is our leader." Wan Qing stated calmly.

"I have no further doubts." Bing said, putting away his shield. "But how did you...?"

"It's an illusion." Lei Zhi said.

"How could you tell Fisherman?" Wan Qing asked curiously. He was able to see through her illusion in an instant. Just how was that possible? He didn't use any spirit tools or his qi either to check.

"I didn't do anything special. You just look the same to me." He innocently responded.

"Didn't you say, you got your vision back from some auxiliary martial art the Empress gave you?" Bing asked.

"Yes, I touched the cover of it and all the knowledge inside of it flowed into my mind."

"I've never heard of a martial art being taken directly in your mind..." Wan Qing muttered.

"You haven't?" Bing asked surprised. That was exactly how he gained his Devil's Art.

"Maybe in fairy tales but nothing in real life! Martial art manuals that can do something like that would be worth fortunes! Even ancient clans would fork out thousands of spirit stones for valuable martial arts like that! And you're telling me Jing just gave it to you?! For free!?" Wan Qing yelled.

"Well, I wouldn't say for free. I gave her my loyalty and body to aid Jing in her goal of reforming the sect."

"Who would take the loyalty and body of a man far past his prime and think of it as useful?"

"The Empress did." Bing pointed out.

"Exactly! Don't you all find it strange how Jing could make a seemingly useless old man into a competent cultivator with a future?! She is not that far apart from us in age yet her capabilities seem unimaginable for any youth! How many people would be able to turn a cultivator like him into something with substance?" Wan Qing asked referring to Lei Zhi. "And don't even get me started on these weapons she's gifted us! I doubt blacksmiths blessed by the heavens could recreate the weapons she's gifted us!"

"Well of course we think it's strange Qing. It's just that... It's the Empress, you know? I wouldn't be that surprised if she turned a mortal squirrel into a pig that could practice martial arts. You do know that even the Empress's owl has his own martial arts right? Humans can't make martial arts for animals because animals don't cultivate the same way we do. But somehow the Empress was able to teach her owl martial arts. That means she's able to do the impossible that no other cultivator has been capable of. Something not even those at the True Immortal realm could pull off."

"Don't you find that terrifying?!" Qing yelled. Bing only let out a tired sigh.

"Listen Wan Qing... Thinking too deeply about this type of stuff is only going to drive you crazy. I've already gotten past it by trying to live my life simply while following her directions. I've had many sleepless nights trying to understand who Jing is, where she came from, what are her limits, and what does she want. But none of that mattered. All that mattered was I lived my life doing what I aimed to do. I may have become her slave but I have not suffered greatly since being taken under her rule." Bing told her.

"Slave?!" Qing and Lei Zhi asked simultaneously.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It seems one of Jing's followers is questioning her capabilities and just how strange, unnatural, and scary they truly are. I wonder what will become of this line of questioning and will they ever find their way to Jing herself?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	67. A Chance For A Mystic Flame!

"Yes. Me and Hu Tao are the Empress's slaves. To save my own life, I became Jing's slave. Hu Tao made a bet with her and lost, also becoming her slave. As far as I know, you three weren't forced into joining Jing. You still have the chance to leave and live normal lives but me and Hu Tao are stuck in this for life. I still haven't quite come to terms with it as I still have a family back home but I realized Jing isn't a monster to those that follow her. As long as you perform your duties, you will be treated fairly."

The serious response given by Bing sent Qing and Lei Zhi into deep thought. What exactly did they want by following under Jing? Did they want to stick with her for their entire lives? What about their own goals, wishes, and dreams for the future? Could they accomplish them if they stayed under Jing? What would happen if they refused to be under Jing and wanted to leave? Could they even leave? Or would she silence them so that information about her wouldn't spread? This...was a lot to think about.

"Hey guys! I'm back! Do you think Jing will be able to give me a mystic flame for killing those Fearsome Garden weaklings? Maybe that's asking too much because of how rare they are... What if I gave her the head of one of their commanders!?" Ying returned with her outfit covered in blood. Seeing the unfamiliar face next to the two guys, she asked, "Who's this and do I need to cut her apart too?"

"Hmph. I don't look that different, do I?" Wan asked slightly upset at not being recognized by anyone but Lei Zhi.

"Yes. You look like a completely different person." Bing spoke.

"You look no different to me." Lei Zhi smiled.

"No, seriously who is she?" Ying asked a second time, noticing the friendly atmosphere between the three.

"It's Wan Qing. Our ally." Lei Zhi informed.

"Eh? No way..." Ying got real up close to Qing and stared directly at her chest.

"Are they real?" Ying asked.

"Find out for yourself." She scoffed.

Ying groped Qing's chest and could feel the weight and quality of her breasts. It felt like the real deal! But how in the world did she do this? Could it be that spirit tool from before? It could make illusions of this quality?

"They are real..." Ying stopped fondling Qing and didn't notice the small blush on her cheeks.

"Hmph." She proudly smirked as both Lei Zhi and Bing were looking away politely.

"I'm done!" Ying yelled, bringing their attention back.

"Oh, alright then." Bing coughed with his face slightly red.

"Now follow me. With my Overbearing Amalgamation of Flames auxiliary art, I can sense objects with a strong fire-qi presence."

"Does that mean what I think it means then?" Wan asked. Ying only smiled in response with a greedy look in her eyes.

"Isn't that the martial art you gained from the boy with the mystic flame?" Bing asked.

"Yeah. And next time I see him, I'm definitely taking his flame from him."

"Why didn't you do it before?" Lei Zhi asked.

"I didn't know it was possible until after my encounter with him."

"Doesn't that mean you could just find if there are any mystic flames here yourself if you can sense objects with a lot of fire qi?" Bing questioned.

"Maybe. I don't know how much fire qi surrounds something like a mystic flame. They are wanted across the continent for a reason Fatass. If they were this easy to get, then everyone would have one."

"I was just asking..."

The group continued to travel across the Great Volcano with Ying leading them as their treasure magnet. Along the way, they stumbled upon plenty of areas with fire-related treasures defended by dangerous spirit beasts, treacherous places filled with lava that could melt the flesh in seconds until there was nothing but bone and ash left, and the environment itself going against them. The group as a whole barely gained any treasures at all. All the places they checked had the treasure already looted! What Ying could sense was just the left over qi prescence from the magical treasures. All that hard work for nothing seriously dampened their spirits. Bing's shield to defend against any threats, Qing's fan to blast away anything in their way, and Zhi's fishing rod to snatch up any treasures that were too far away to reach. Despite leading the group to the treasures, Ying barely could do anything in the journey to gain them.

"You're so useless sometimes!" Her sword sent feelings of embarrassment towards her. "Are you only good for killing people!? What kind of sword can't even take a dip in lava!?" Her sword responded back. "Who cares if it's hot!?"

"I don't think you should take your anger out on your sword." Bing spoke before getting punched in the arm and crying out in pain.

"Don't tell me what to do Fatass." She huffed.

"I didn't think there would be so many magical treasures missing." Wan Qing admitted.

"I'm shocked as well. There must be someone here that can also sense flame-natured objects like Ying." Zhi agreed.

"Do you guys see that over there?" Bing asked.

"See what?" Ying looked over and saw a familiar face that instantly boosted her spirits. Bing saw this and was about to ask something but before he could, she dashed off in the distance.

"What was that about?" Qing looked at the excited Yue with killing intent leaking off of her.

Bing shrugged his shoulders and the group watched as Ying jumped into the air and brought her sword down in the middle of the group fighting, knocking both sides away by destroying the ground they were fighting on. It was an entire group vs one guy. Ying focused her eye on the single guy rather than the group and charged after him with her blade. He immediately turned tail and ran away from Ying. The group the guy was fighting against chased after them both, leaving their squad behind as Ying went on a chase.

"What is she, a child?" Qing asked holding her head in disbelief.

"I'm sure she has her reasons..." Lei Zhi tried to reason.

"Well, I have better things to do than wait on her to come back. I'm heading to the Great Tower." Qing started walking back with her arms crossed.

"She is going pretty far..." Ying's figure was now far into the distance and could barely be seen by Bing.

"We could leave her a message with the talisman. So that she could find us later." Lei Zhi proposed.

"Do as you wish." Qing said unconcerned.

* * *

"Give me your Mystic Flame!" Ying yelled.

"Senior Martial Sister, I must decline!" Fu Kang yelled back.

"I wasn't asking!" Fire claimed her body, increasing her speed.

"Haven't you ever heard that pushy women are terrifying to good men!?" Fire coated his body as well, giving him a speed boost just like Ying's but even faster.

"You've reached a higher level than me?" Ying stared in shock as he was already in the advanced realm with the same auxiliary art that she's using when they started learning it around the same time. Let it be known that she was still only at the initial realm at this time!

There are 5 levels to determine how skilled a cultivator is at practicing a martial art. Elementary, initial, intermediate, advanced, and peak are all the stages a martial artist can reach in a martial art. Reaching the elementary stage of a martial arts means that the cultivator can show 10% of the true power of a martial art. Initial is 30%, Intermediate is 50%, Advanced is 70%, and Peak is 100%.

'That's impossible... It's only been a few months since I've last seen him. How could he be at the advanced stage already?' Ying was flabbergasted.

The way he formed and manipulated the fire around him was almost seamless. Ying wasn't capable of anything as skilled as that even in her best state! She was jealous, confused, and pissed off! How!? Unless he was a super genius on par with that bastard Hu Tao, then it was impossible for him to reach that stage so fast. She refused some pervert like this guy in front of her was talented too. Perverts shouldn't be blessed by the heavens! One Hu Tao was enough for this world!

Ying threw uncontrolled masses of flames at him, she wasn't able to manipulate them that well. He nimbly dodged her attacks while taking her all across the Great Volcano. The group that was fighting Fu Kang was nowhere in sight. Lava shot out from the ground all around them. Spirit beasts joined in the chase with them sometimes. He was three small stages below her at the 3rd stage but he could out speed her! He had to have another secret besides the earrings she got from him. Her envy as a cultivator refused to believe another pervert could be this talented.

"Martial Sister! Desperation is not a good look for a lady! Chasing me for so long will only hurt your reputation! For a lady as beautiful as you, it would be a pain to my heart seeing you shamed because of me."

Ying didn't even bother responding to his nonsense. She will find his secret. She will take his secret. And she will take his mystic flame, no matter what he says or does. Ying wouldn't care if the entire sect thought she was obsessed with him. All she cared about was getting what she wanted. She wouldn't let anything stop her.

"Stop!" A mysterious figure intruded and created a barrier of flames between her and the green-haired boy.

"Tch. Out of my way!" Ying clicked her tongue and slashed right through the fire barrier with her sword, splitting it in half and easily allowing her to grab the boy by the throat.

"Please. Senior Sister... We can solve this with words instead of violence.. ACK!" Ying tightened her grip around his throat to shut him up.

"Please release Fu Kang." The one who made the barrier appeared.

"Aren't you that pretty boy's fiancé?" Ying asked unclear.

"He is not my fiancé." She stated firmly.

"Oh, so you're in one of those types of clans. An arranged marriage made by your father?"

"I will not accept this marriage and no matter what I'll prove to my Father that I will choose who I marry. Even if I have to defeat Gong Jun myself." She vowed.

"Huh, well I can respect something like that. I know I would be raising hell if my parents tried to force me into an arranged marriage. But seriously, you chose this guy over someone like Gong Jun?" Ying figured he must really have a deep secret if a real princess like Liu Lan was interested in him. A secret she will take at all costs.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: What choice will Lei Zhi and Wan Qing make by the end of this arc? And how will Ying handle a person of fate and his future love interest with a deep background? Will she manage to get what she wants or will something unexpected happen that saves Fu Kang?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	68. Ying's Determination

"I did not choose anyone." Liu Lan replied.

"Then why are you trying to save him?" Ying still wasn't going to leave without getting what she wants but she was curious to hear why this famous princess wanted to save this pervert.

"I cannot share why, but I'm willing to trade in exchange for his life." Liu slightly bowed her head as an assortment of items came from her storage ring.

Ying looked over the goods and was secretly impressed. You couldn't find pills like these for cheap. Bone Washing pills, Blood Refining pills, Skin Cleansing pills, and more that would cost her a small fortune if she tried to pay for them in the sect. It's too bad that she's certain that Fu Kang's secrets and mystic flame are worth more. None of this was tempting enough. It wasn't like she was going to give up Fu Kang even if she had better items to trade. She just would've took them and ran off with him before getting what she wanted.

"Got anything else?" Ying asked, unimpressed.

The shock on their faces was not hidden in the least. Liu Lan believed that this much would be enough to shock any regular cultivator in the Qi Gatherer stage. The average cultivator could grow in leaps and bounds if they took these pills and diligently cultivated. It isn't too much to say that Lan's pills were life changing for the untalented!

But Ying's talent wasn't horrible anymore! Ever since she got her sword, cultivation has become easier for her as time went on. She no longer struggled to get resources to break through, the impurities in her body were slowly filtered out because of her sword, and the quality of her qi was becoming purer. The longer she held onto her sword, the more her strength would rise. Anything those pills could do, her sword would eventually do even better.

"Ex-Excuse me?" Liu Lan was shocked that she refused her offer.

The pills she bargained with were made by herself! She knew they weren't perfect in quality but they definitely weren't something that could be refused! They were excellent quality pills that the average pill refiner would struggle to make. Even Elder Ru has praised her for her refining abilities, the top alchemist within the Golden Serpent Sect. Ying's rejection felt like it was spitting on all the hard work that Liu Lan has put into pill refining for the past several months.

"Those pills are trash. What else do you have to offer?" Ying didn't care about the pride of little miss princess. All she cared about was what she could gain from her.

"Senior, please don't joke... All of these pills are excellent grade, one level below perfect. There is no one that would not find a use for them." She softly spat with her damaged pride.

"If I said they are trash, they are trash. Now hurry up and show what else you have on you." Her words directly stabbed at the young lady's pride. The royal princess didn't even hide the pissed off look on her face.

'Oh, this is gonna be bad...' Fu Kang thought.

If Liu Lan wasn't here right now, he could use his Cube to escape this Violent Senior but he couldn't reveal his secret while she was here! If they were alone, he could think of something to distract the senior choking him and then make his escape. Maybe he could turn this situation into an advantage for himself. But first, he would have to get rid of Liu Lan.

"Fairy Liu! I'll be fine! Just go!" He spoke through choked breaths.

"I won't leave you here to die! You're the only one that can-" She quickly shut her mouth after realizing what she was about to say.

"How could I call myself the Greatest Under the Heavens Kang, if I couldn't handle a situation like this? Trust in me. I'll be fine." In Liu Lan's eyes, he suddenly became a lot more handsome and manly after saying such things.

Ying punched him in the gut after hearing the sappy line. He coughed up blood from her beast-like strength. What was he trying to do, paint her as the bad guy? Is she the evil cultivator who's separating the two lovers for evil purposes? She just wanted his stuff! It was his own fault that he wasn't strong enough to protect it.

"I... I can't..." Liu struggled to say.

"Liu! Go! You're just a burden if you stay any longer!" Fu said harshly with blood sliding down his lips.

Ying could tell she was devastated from what he told her.

"Fine...! You better be alright after this!" She turned around with a single tear falling down her eye and ran off into the distance.

"I'd love to stay Senior Martial Sister, but that was my que to leave! See ya!" Fu Kang suddenly vanished from her hand.

She quickly looked around her surrounding for any signs of him. How did he just disappear right in front of her!? It wasn't a teleportation spell from a talisman! It wasn't a martial art because she didn't sense any qi coming off him when he did it. What just happened?! Where did her free mystic flame disappear to!?

"KANG! GET BACK HERE!" Ying fed her sword a spirit stone to enhance her connection with the qi around them.

She used it to search her surroundings for any signs of Kang but there was no sign of him anywhere! This didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense and it made her extremely mad. Her ticket to owning a mystic flame of her own just poofed right out of the air. Her sword fueled the anger surging through her. Fire slowly began to erupt on parts of her body.

Her sword told her to feed it her storage ring if she wanted to get Kang.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked.

Her sword had a feeling that it knew where Kang went. It thinks that he escaped into a Void World. Ying had no idea what a Void World was but her sword couldn't exactly explain it either. He said it was a different world inside of a cultivator but what did that mean?! It tried to explain some more but all this was only making Ying even more angry.

"Whatever! Take the stupid ring!" Ying released all the items inside her storage ring on the ground and tossed her ring into the mouth hidden behind her sword's eye.

The sword slowly started to transform as it took in the essence of the storage ring. Purple and black symbols formed over the body of the blade. The large metal blade used the strange qi around it to compress itself into a smaller form. It was a light and thin type of blade that looked like it would boast of quickness and beauty rather than strength and evilness. Ying took a few light swings with it, testing to see how her handling has changed.

The blade may have become smaller but it seemed even heavier than before! The strange energy flowing through her blade was also flowing through Ying herself! She didn't understand what type of qi this was but it was not anything remotely similar to fire qi. With a single swing of her sword, she felt like she could cut anywhere she laid her eyes on. Distance was no longer an issue for her. If there was an enemy standing 10 meters away from her, she would still be able to decapitate them in one slice.

The power of the void is what her sword explained to her. So, this was void qi? The type of qi that made storage rings possible. It was unfamiliar to Ying. Something she's never experienced before. She was usually bathed in fire qi but now she was filled with this void qi thanks to her sword. It wasn't uncomfortable though. Instead of the blazing fire qi, the void qi was not something that burned. It took concentration, precision, and control to fully use. She took a few more swings to get used to her new power but her sword reminded her that they only had 10 minutes before it wore off.

"And I don't have another storage ring on me... Alright, let's find that Kang bastard." Ying concentrated her fury and qi into her void sword.

With a sword strike that cuts through space itself, she sliced herself a way to Kang. Her sword explained that she was only reopening the rift left behind by Kang and she needed to head through there to get Kang. She wasn't skilled enough to make rifts on her own. Void qi was new to her after all.

"I'll show you skilled damn it!" Ying executed the moves of her Giant Blade Manual given by Jing for her sword. The Giant Blade Manual was an unranked sword art that taught Ying how to use her greatsword.

The rift leading to Kang began to expand as each powerful slash of her blade opened it further. A downward slice that looked strong enough to split oceans, a straight thrust that could pierce through any defense, and a dragon-cleaving strike from the side that would put kill into any flying lizard. A perfect demonstration of some of the techniques within her Sword Art. Now that she opened the rift far enough that she could go inside of it, a satisfied smirk appeared on her face.

"Your secrets will be mine!" She walked through the rift with her blade.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ying's determination is pretty scary. If she's willing to go this far for her own greed, I wonder how far would she go to get revenge?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	69. Fu Kang

Fu Kang let out a breath of relief as he arrived in his Spirit World. He couldn't help but rub his sore throat after that experience. Just what was the deal with that fierce beauty? Why did she have it out for him so badly? Wasn't it enough that she stole his martial arts book and Hidden Vision earrings? It seems that increasing his mastery of his martial arts isn't enough. He'll have to start cultivating more seriously now.

His shadow walked over to him. Fu shooed him away, he wasn't here to practice martial arts. The shadow came to greet him every time he came to his Spirit World. If he wanted, he would show it one of his martial arts and then the shadow would copy it in the perfected version. As long as he reflected the same steps as the shadow was, he would perfect the martial arts in time. Whenever he doesn't use it to train his martial arts then he lets it take care of the garden filled with herbs of all kind.

This Spirit World is filled with qi that can grow nearly any type of crops in its soil. There was no plant that Fu couldn't grow in his garden. Even regular plants mutated into spirit plants with beneficial effects when eaten. It could also accelerate the growth of plants that need hundreds or thousands of years to grow! It wouldn't be too farfetched to say that he would be able to create immortal elixir out of his ass when he becomes talented enough in pill refining!

But for now, he'll have to make something that will quickly boost his cultivation. It might take him a while to get used to his new strength but that Senior from before seems like the stubborn type. She could still be waiting for him outside his Spirit World and if he went out there with the same strength he had earlier, being taken advantage of by the fearsome beautiful Senior was the only fate waiting for him. He needed a large number of pills if he wanted to break through to the 6th stage. Where did he put that pill cauldron?

"Shadow! Bring me my pill cauldron, 20 Heart Leaves, 50 Bright-Eyed stalks, 10 Spirit Weeds, and 100 Green Fungus." The shadow immediately went to prepare all the necessary items.

It was time to refine some perfect grade pills. The shadow wasn't only good for improving his martial arts. It could also help him practice his pill refining abilities as well. He found this out when he needed to prove himself to Elder Ru. She refused to allow him to become an apprentice under her even if he could remedy the illness Liu Lan suffered because of her family's martial arts. If he could show that he had talent in the Art of Alchemy and produce a pill that was better than one of her other pupils would he be allowed to become her apprentice.

A smile slowly popped up on his face as he thought about how Liu Lan tried to help him pass Elder Ru's impossible test. A young man with no experience or knowledge about pill refining facing off against an apprentice who has been practicing for months with the greatest teacher. If he didn't have the shadow to help teach him how to concoct pills, he wouldn't have ever been able to pass Elder Ru's test. He doubted he would've won even if she gave him an entire month before facing off against Chun.

Finding out that the shadow could teach him things other than martial arts was by complete luck! It was a week before the test and he was panicking to figure out a way to become a master alchemist on his own. There was nothing at the library and when he went to the Exchange Hall, he was too poor to buy any manuals on the subject himself. He also didn't have any friends to ask because people didn't like him for some reason! Gong Jun! That damn bastard has nothing better to do but send his stupid underlings to bother him day after day after day! He warned all disciples to stay away from him unless they wanted to get on his bad side.

Fu didn't care if their families wanted the two to marry. As far as he saw it, Liu Lan was single and she was going to be his! If he needed to, he would smash up both Jun's family and Lan's family if he needed to. But at his current strength that was nothing more than wishful thinking. Even Liu Lan herself could deal with him right now. That's why he needed to use these ingredients to make the perfect pills for raising his strength.

Fu Kang lit a small fire underneath the cauldron and expertly controlled the flames to the exact temperature he wanted. The shadow sat right next to him and mimicked him. A cauldron of blackness that was similar to his cauldron appeared in front of the shadow. This was where Fu needed to pay attention. He focused his eyes on the shadow's hands and its flame. His fire was still too low compared to the heat of the shadow's. He raised the temperature higher and watched as the shadow's went further than before. Well, he could do the same!

Now it was a game of focus, patience, and making sure he doesn't run out of qi by the end of this. Seeing the moves of the shadow was like trying to copy a Grandmaster Alchemist. It was impossible for someone of Fu's level but he had all the time he wanted in this world. He wouldn't give up until the perfect grade pills were made. Fu wouldn't accept anything less than perfect with the help of the shadow. How could he boast about being the Greatest Under the Heavens if he couldn't do something as simple as this?

The Cube was Fu's greatest secret. It has saved his life on numerous occasions. It was something that Fu would never reveal to anyone. Not even his closest companions could know. It was the reason for his strength now. Everything that he has accomplished was thanks to this cube. Fu didn't realize the secrets about the cube until he nearly lost his life in Yellow Jade City.

It was a memento from his parents, parents that he never knew. Fu was raised by his grandfather in normal village. His grandfather never told him anything about his parents. When he asked about them, he was never given a direct answer. This led to Fu realizing that his parents might be anything but average. Especially after unlocking the secret about the cube. He had to be a descendent of two super powerful cultivators!

Fu Kang promised to kick his mom and dad's ass when he saw them for abandoning him and never seeing him. He didn't care if they had a good excuse or not. His anger wouldn't forgive them for failing in their parental duties. As a proper son, he had to punish his parents for their behavior. If not him, then who would?

"Damn another excellent grade pill... Worthless." Fu tossed the pill into the garden along with the dozens of other failed attempts to create a single perfect grade pill.

If anyone else saw the number of wasted pills of that grade their eyes would bulge out of their head from shock! Not even alchemist prodigies would aim for the insane heights that Fu Kang was currently aiming for. It must be known that perfect grade pills are not something that any alchemist could just hope to get. Even if everything went perfectly during the pill concocting, it still wasn't certain that one would get excellent or perfect grade pills! The Art of Alchemy is more complicated than the average cultivator would think.

The grade of pills are separated into 5 grades: Inferior, Mediocre, Average, Excellent, and Perfect. Inferior grade pills lose 50% of their medicinal essence. Mediocre is 40%, Average is 30%, Excellent is 10%, and Perfect loses none. Reaching average is the industry standard for all alchemist no matter what type of pill they are aiming to make.

Fu Kang was starting to reach his limit. His hands were shaking, his mind was tired, and his stomach was grumbling. Sitting in the same spot making pills for several hours was taxing! He needed a break! Thankfully, he had this gorgeous garden filled with all sorts of savory fruit! He'll spend a few minutes eating some of this to recharge his qi and weathered spirit. But there was a strange feeling in the air that made Fu uneasy.

The beautiful sky in his Spirit World was turning dark. That was something he's never seen before. What was going on? Fu looked over to the shadow and nearly dropped his fruit! The shadow was shaking! The same shadow that has mastered every single one of his martial arts was scared of something?! What was happening in his Spirit World?!

A giant gash appeared in the sky. Strange purple qi started to flow from gash. Fu didn't know what to do. Was there something he could do!? Was someone coming into his Spirit World?! Or was this another part of the cube that he has yet to unlock like the Wonder Spring?

"Kang! You can't hide from me! Your secrets will be mine!" A familiar figure came out of the giant gash in the sky and crash landed onto his world. She stared into his eyes and fear filled his soul...

"Im-Impossible... This is... This is my Spirit World... How did you...?" He could barely talk with the chattering of his teeth.

"Did you think you could get away?" She crushed her hand into a fist.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Clingy women are truly terrifying. Tearing through space and time just to see you again. Hah... I wish i had a woman like that. (As long as she didn't want to beat me up and rob me for everything i had. I'm not a masochist, i promise.)

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	70. Ying vs Fu Kang!

She dashed towards him and reached him in the blink of an eye. An eruption of blue flames exploded from Kang's body, nearly freezing Ying's blood solid. The pissed off young girl smashed her fist into her opponent's chest, leaving a fist imprint on his chest along with a few shattered ribs as he flew across the garden. Seeing that her punch landed made her feel good. That mystic flame of his was dangerous if she kept using void qi in this fight, even now she still had blue flames on her body slowly freezing her.

She wasn't skilled enough in using void qi to defend against the blue fire. All she could do was displace the fire from directly touching her skin. But this wasn't good enough to face Kang's flames. The icy temperatures didn't need to touch her for her body to be frozen by it. Void qi was too different from fire qi! Ying felt like she was trying to use an entirely different style of martial arts! Since she was a swordsman, this situation felt like she was trying to learn how to use a spear for the first time!

"Change back idiot." She hit her fist on her sword, causing it to spit up the spirit ring from before.

A tear leaked from the giant sword but Ying ignored it as she ignited herself on fire. The familiar embrace of the blazing and uncontrollable fire qi raging through her body made Ying feel like she was right at home. Her long bright orange hair turned into flowing flames, the pupils in her eyes resembled a burning fire, and her huge sword transformed into flames in the shape of a sword. The icy flames that were freezing her body started to be overwhelmed by Ying's flames and in no time, her body was back to normal. Her eyes wandered over to Fu Kang, expecting to see him unable to move at all.

But what she found was the boy rapidly shoving fruits and plants in his mouth. She could visibly see his body rapidly healing from the spirit herbs.

'That little bastard!' Ying ran towards the recovering pervert to stop him. She lifted her blade over her shoulder in preparation to crush him!

Ding! A black figure clashed with her sword, saving Fu Kang from her blade. He continued shoving food from the garden into his mouth as Ying tried to overpower the strange black person. It could contend with her sword with some black flames covering its fists. The flames felt the same as Kang's icy flames from earlier. If this was all it had then Ying would have no problem cutting right through it! She used her qi to fuel the blazing hot flames coming off her body to overpower the cold fire trying to freeze her.

Ying's flames stopped the coldness from affecting her but she still couldn't cut through this thing! The flames around its fist were far more concentrated than she thought they were. She doubted she could burn this guy into ashes even if she used all the qi in her body! His flame techniques were on a completely different level than hers. Trying to best him using her flames alone was impossible and Fu Kang was nearly completely healed by now!

"I don't know how you assholes are so gifted at training fire-natured marital arts but I don't just have my flames to rely on!" Ying jumped backwards and got rid of her flames.

She entered her sword stance from the Giant Blade Manual and focused all her attention of the shadow. The previous fiery aura seen from her was gone. In its place was a swordsman. A swordsman that could cut mountains in half with a single stroke of her blade. A swordsman whose attacks are as heavy as the heavens themselves. A wielder of a blade that has foregone speed, precision, and defense in favor of an overwhelming unstoppable offense.

Ying disappeared as the place she was standing was destroyed and turned into a small crater. She leapt into the air with her sword was raised over her head, it was coming down on the shadowy figure with the force of 1000 boulders. The shadow was forced to dodge and Ying let herself be pulled by her sword after splitting the ground in two. Fu Kang was forced to retreat from the garden lest he wanted to fall into the small chasm made by Ying. Ying flipped forward and half spun to swung her sword to strike the crouching figure. The shadow dropped face first into the ground to dodge the strike. Ying was taken by the momentum of the blade and turned into a deadly top! The ground was deeply carved by her blade as she spun like a tilted top to cut the shadow.

This was the second style from the Giant Blade Manual, Moving With The Blade. The core of this style was to not control the sword but to follow and understand it. Unlike the first style in which you control the blade and strike with domineering strength. Mastering the second style would allow her to learn how to react to any attack that comes towards her blade.

The shadow frantically dodged on the ground as each slice was enough to cut off an important part of its body. The shadow leapt off the ground and focused all the flames around its palm. It chopped towards Ying's throat, intending to eliminate this threat inside its master's world. But its killing chop failed, Ying's blade met the knife hand before it could get close. The blade slowly started to slice into the shadow's hand, forcing it to release a mass of black flames to escape.

Ying set herself ablaze to get rid of the freezing flames and quickly ran back after the shadow. She could feel its panic as she was right under it, giving it no time to deal with its injury. It tried to release the flames once more to get away but she wouldn't let that happen. Ying unleashed a large flame from her palm, negating the cold flames and sending the shadow away on fire. At this close of a range, it was impossible for it to have dodged her attack.

"Senior Sister, you are too much!" Fu Kang arrived behind her and landed a blow on her side that made her insides seem like they turned into ice!

He tried to follow up with a lethal blow to her neck while she was stunned. His hand was covered in blue flames in the shape of a small blade. There was no chance of her being able to block this blow with her sword. The pervert got her by surprise. She wished it didn't have to come to something like this but that strange black figure was far stronger than she thought it would be.

Ying caught his burning hand and started to crush it despite the intense freezing of her hand. Kang cried out as he tried to get away from her powerful grip but it was like trying to snatch his arm out of the mouth of an Iron Jawed Crocodile! Ying lit her own hand on fire to counter Kang's. This was going to drain the rest of her qi but it was better than losing all feeling in her hand. She broke all the bones in Kang's hand making him scream even louder. And since he decided to get so close to her, this was the perfect moment to steal his mystic flame!

Ying activated her auxiliary martial art, Overbearing Amalgamation of Flames. She utilized the unique breathing patterns for the flame-style support martial art and flames started to pour out of her back. The fire started to shape itself into Ying's form before diving inside Fu Kang's chest. He couldn't help but scream in agony as Ying's fire found its way to the mystic flame hiding inside him. Ying's fire manifestation reached for the icy flames in the shape of Fu Kang and instantly contested their strength against one another.

In the outside world, Ying was slowly but repeatedly punching Kang in the stomach. She could feel the resistance from his mystic flame weakening the more she hurt him. She doubted he has ever felt this much pain in his life. Her flames were starting to overpower his mystic flames! But! Ying could hear the shadow from before coming from behind her! She needed to hurry or it was going to ruin everything!

Ying added all of her strength into her fist and sent it straight into Fu Kang's gut. He spat out blood onto her face. This was enough! Ying's fire grabbed hold of Kang's mystic flame and pulled it out of his dantian. She quickly absorbed her flame and his mystic flame into her own dantian just as the shadow arrived behind her. It was impossible for her to dodge in time unless she wanted to let go of the mystic flame she just gained.

The shadow plunged its hand through her stomach as she stood over the critically injured Fu Kang. Blood leaked from her mouth but this wasn't enough to kill her. She wasn't going to die here. She refused to die to something like this. She still had things to do in life and dying from this mysterious pervert wasn't in her plans!

Ying grabbed hold of the hand going through her stomach and used the rest of her power to elbow the shadow in the face. Each strike to the face was weakening the shadow. Ying's crazy strength given by her sword was not to be underestimated! It tried igniting its black cold flames to have her release it but that was useless now. Ying grinned a bloody smile as she used her auxiliary art and absorbed the flames for herself, refueling her empty qi supply. If this shadow had a face, Ying bet it would have its mouth wide open in shock. She released his hand and watched the shadow fall to the ground.

"I've had enough out of you already." Ying used her refilled qi to cauterize her wound.

"This is the end." She grabbed her sword and stabbed it into the chest of the shadow.

Ying then walked to the barely living Fu Kang and crouched over him. When she sent her flame into him earlier, she felt the strange presence of something else hiding inside him. Something that sent chills into her soul. She couldn't leave until she's taken that as well. Fear is not something to be feared but something to be conquered as a member of the Yue family.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I always have fun writing fighting scenes with Ying in them.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	71. The Powers of the Cube

Ying plunged her hand into Fu Kang's chest. Blood shot all over her arm as she searched around his insides. His screaming turned into whimpers and groans while she was looking inside. Ying ignored the organs as she looked for that strange object. But as she was looking, her hand clutched onto something... It felt solid and was shaped like a square on all sides.

'What the hell was this?' Ying pulled out the strange object and found that it was a purple cube.

It was resting near his still beating heart. The cube gave off a mysterious feeling to her. She didn't understand what was so special about it but knew she just had to have it. Ying lit the cube on fire to clean all the blood off of it before having her sword eyeing the cube like a greedy hound. It begged her to feed it to him.

"Like I'd feed something as valuable as this to a hunk of metal like you! Who knows what this thing can do?" Ying insulted.

The sword continued to beg and plead for her to feed it while giving her a cutesy look with its single demonic eye. Ying refused to give in this time no matter how cutely it looked at her. It always did this when it wanted to eat something valuable of hers! She didn't have the money to keep providing for this hungry slab of metal. She might be from a cultivation family but that didn't mean her pockets were filled to the brim!

It promised her that this time was different. That the cube held a power that she couldn't use unless she fed it to him. She thought it was total crap and it was just trying to feed on this magical treasure she found. Its feelings exploded inside her like a tantrum throwing baby as it begged and cried to have the cube.

"Shut up! Shut up! Alright! I'll feed it to you if you can tell me why you want to eat it so badly. If you say you're just hungry, I swear I'll get a blacksmith hit you with his hammer!" Ying yelled.

The sword responded by telling her that it could gain the essence of the cube if it eats it.

"Essence? Like with the storage ring from earlier?" It blinked at her, acknowledging that she was right.

It then went on to say how the cube wasn't any ordinary object. It was something special and it could gain its abilities if it eats it.

"What abilities? I don't even know what the cube can do. And wouldn't it just go away in 10 minutes like all the other times I feed something with spirit energy to you?"

The demonic blade shared with her about how this entire Void World was because of that cube. It could sense void qi inside of it along with a myriad of other types of qi as well. What Ying got from it was that a place like this could become hers if she fed the cube to Hao Gang, her sword. She didn't know what this Void World could do but she did know that Fu Kang could only have gotten as strong as he was thanks to this place.

And that's why she dropped the cube into Hao's mouth. He loudly crunched on the magical treasure with relish and Ying could feel its bliss affecting her mood as well. Well if this was going to help her get stronger, she didn't mind feeling a little bit happy about it. Hao started shining with purple and black lines similar to the one's on the cube running down its sword body. The lines raced with each other, they intersected and interlocked forming a strange pattern onto Ying's sword. Her wounds began healing as well.

Then everything went white. Ying couldn't see anything nor hear anything around her. Her connection to Hao was still there. She could feel her limbs and her qi was working fine. But where was she now? Hao told her that he was creating her Void World. That was when the world started to come alive all around her.

The white space she was in before was now being taken over by life itself. The blank sky was now becoming a blue sky with clouds and a shining sun. In the far distance, grass began rolling in the world to cover all the whiteness. Seeing the sight made Ying wonder if the grass always belonged there or was something just made by Hao. Ying could even feel a cool relaxing breeze blowing on her skin.

But that wasn't all that was added. The same garden that was inside Fu Kang's was inside her Void World. There were no plants inside it and that made Ying want to complain a bit but seeing all the other additions shut her up. She could just grow her own garden in the future that was better than Kang's.

A shadow that resembled her body formed out of her shadow. It had the same figure, hair, and a giant sword just like hers. Why did Hao add this shadow in her world? Was it to be used as a sparring partner against herself? There was a pill cauldron by the garden too. Ying didn't practice alchemy so, why would he make that?

A sudden figure tackled into her from behind and hung around her waist like a little monkey. The unexpected assault almost made Ying fall right on her face! She turned around with an angry look on her face just to see the sight of a strange boy hugging her legs with a gross look on his face.

"Mommy!" The young child happily exclaimed while he rubbed his face against her bare legs.

The small boy was dressed in an outfit similar to hers. He wore the Yue family's outfit with her clan's twisted fist symbol on the center of the robes. His hair was a mix of orange and purple while his eyes were a direct copy of hers. Who was this child she felt so familiar with? And why was he touching her so much!? She would feel disgusted if she didn't feel so close to this kid.

"Who are you calling mom?! Get off of me already!" Ying knocked the boy on his head with her fist, dropping him to the ground with a silly grin on his face.

"Mommy it's me! Hao! I made a human body for myself inside your Void World!" Hao answered as he got up and took her hand.

Ying was at a loss for words. She didn't know exactly how respond to this unexpected situation. Seeing her sword turn into child that looked eerily similar to herself? How many people could say they could prepare themselves for something like that!? So, Ying did the only thing she could do.

"Well, are you ready to explain this whole void world thing to me? And stop touching me!" She didn't think about it.

"But we're always together outside..." His bright happy face turned sullen.

"That's different, you're a sword out there and in here you are..." The look on his face was turning worse and worse as the little brat was thinking that him becoming a human like her was a bad thing.

"Forget it. You can hold my hand. Now explain what all of this is about for me."

"Yay! Okay, okay, so that thing over there can help you master your martial arts." He pointed at the shadow staring at the garden sadly.

"That brown dirt can help you grow whatever plants you want in there. The qi inside here is very big and good. Perfect for master to cultivate plants and cultivate for yourself."

"That pot thing can help master make pills. The shadow can help master learn how to make pills and become the best pill maker."

"That well over there can't be used yet. I didn't know how to get water inside it."

"And this thing!" Ying interrupted him before he could continue.

"Let's start back from the beginning and slowly work from there..." Ying was completely lost at Hao's explanations and only had even more questions.

"Hmm... This is quite the situation now, isn't it?" Lei Zhi muttered as he looked around him. Quon was floating next to him and Xiurong was on his shoulder.

"We just had to run into these guys on our way to the tower..." Bing whined as his body beefed up.

"It is also unfortunate that Qing isn't here either. She could blow these guys with a single swing of her fan." Lei Zhi added.

"Heh, I bet you thought you were safe in here didn't you, Fatty?" Shui Han smiled with fierce killing intent radiating off of his body.

"Not you again..." Bing muttered.

"I will get my revenge for last time. You and that girl will perish from my hands! You just walked into your own grave." He laughed.

"We shouldn't be so excited to kill each other as disciples from the same sect." Lei Zhi added.

"Kill that old fool first for daring to speak without my permission." Shui ordered.

"You can't reason with someone like this Lei. He's the type of person who will do anything to regain his lost face." Bing said.

"Lost face?" Lei Zhi didn't remember who this young man was.

"He was the guy who almost killed me and Ying a while ago. He's an 8th stage while me and Ying are at lower stages than him. His pride couldn't handle losing to us and now he's gone crazy, I think." Bing whispered.

"I'LL SHOW YOU CRAZY!" Shui screamed as he jumped forward.

"Sorry but fighting hopeless battles isn't my thing." As the vengeful youth charged with his sword, Bing slapped a teleportation talisman on himself and Lei Zhi. Disappearing from the entrapment and winding up somewhere completely unexpected!

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ying is pretty lucky that Jing gave her such a resourceful sword! If she didn't have Hao Gang, then creating something like a Void World would have been impossible for a cultivator at her stage. Now she's stolen a cheat of a person of fate! How will the heavens decide to punish her for stealing from one of their blessed ones? And how do you think she will respond back to the heavens?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	72. Run!

Bing's feet landed on solid ground and he silently thanked his luck for not sending him and Lei to an even worse situation than before. His body was in one piece and Lei was fine too. Now it was time for them to figure out where they were and continue on their way to the tower. He'll also need to let Qing know what happened to them.

"Bing." Lei Zhi spoke with a firm tone.

"Huh?" It was slightly startling to the round cultivator. He's never heard that tone of voice with Lei before.

"When I say run, run as fast as you can."

"What are you... talking... about...?" Bing's eyes slowly met with the terrifying beast staring at them from behind.

Sweat oozed out of his pores like a leaking barrel. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he recognized that beast behind him. He could only produce unintelligible stammering from his mouth as fear took hold of his mind. A 9th stage Qi Gathering Sparking Rhino stared them down. Its powerful qi presence bearing down on both of them made it almost impossible for them to move.

"Can you still move your legs?" Lei asked him.

"Maybe?" He could barely feel his legs! Everything felt numb!

"On the count of 3, I'm going to give us a chance to get out of here. And when I do, run like there's no tomorrow. Don't even think about looking back and just run." Lei said calmly.

"How are you so calm about all of this?" Bing asked while trying to calm his palpitating heart.

"I look calm to you right now?" Lei asked.

Looking at the aged fisherman made Bing think that maybe he was hasty in his judgement of calling Lei calm. His legs were shaking just as bad as his were, Lei's sect robes were soaked from sweat, and the grip on his fishing rod was unsteady. He was just as terrified as he was! That made Bing feel slightly better about the situation as he could still relate to Lei as a common person.

"You aren't going to try and face this thing alone, are you?" Bing asked, wondering how he was going to give them a chance to escape.

"Have you gone crazy? I'm going to be running right with you! I believe it's better to run than to fight."

"You don't know how glad I am hearing you say that. If I was here with anyone but you, I would definitely be fighting in a life or death struggle with this Sparking Rhino right now." Bing was overjoyed to have a normal companion like Lei.

"Can't say you're wrong, knowing our allies." He chuckled. The Sparking Rhino seemed fed up now and slowly moved closer towards them.

"1..."

Bing's fat began turning into muscle. Preparing himself to run to his best ability. Using Swift Devil wouldn't help him in this situation as it would drain his stamina quickly. Running out of stamina while running from this beast will only lead to his eventual death. He would save his movement martial art for emergencies.

"2..."

The Sparking Rhino stomped its foot on the ground, shaking the earth beneath them in an attempt of intimidation. Both Bing and Lei Zhi would agree that it wasn't necessary to try and intimidate them. Especially when they were so weak in comparison to the spirit beast. If anything, it was overkill.

"3!" Quon shot ink into the eyes of the beast, making it growl in anger and rupture the ground with a stomp from its two front legs.

The two moved faster than they ever moved before. The uneven ground did little to hinder their panic-filled sprint as the fear for their lives was a far greater stimulant in aiding their retreat. The crashing of the trees behind them along with the fierce shaking of the ground under them lit their legs on fire! They held nothing back and unleashed their full strength into running away as quickly as they could!

This was the second time in his life that he found himself running for dear life away from a wild beast. The first time was when he was in the recruitment test for the sect. That was also when he became the Empress's slave. Thinking back to that time and this one made him realize that maybe this situation wasn't as scary as he thought it was...

"Thunk!" A tree branch just went sailing past his ears that stabbed deeply into the thick tree he just ran past.

Okay, nope. Still scary! Still terrifying! He was still scared out of his mind! This was nothing like the wild boar from before! Was he stupid? Trying to compare the strength of a boar vs the strength of this 9th stage spirit beast? Of course, this situation was far more dangerous! The worse that boar could've done was stab him with its tusks, he could've lived through that. He wouldn't be able to live no matter what he does if he tried to fight against this Sparking Rhino.

"Hahaha..." A self-depressing laugh escaped him. "If I knew this was going to happen, I would've just fought with that Huan clan psycho!" He yelled, lamenting his misfortune.

"Let's look on the bright side! At least we're getting good training for our legs!" Lei Zhi said while running like the wind.

Bing had trouble seeing how exactly Lei Zhi was moving so fast. When he tried to focus his attention on Lei's legs, his vision would be taken elsewhere. He couldn't read his movements! He himself was a body cultivator thanks to his Devil Arts, so physical-straining activities weren't uncommon for him. But Lei Zhi was a pure qi cultivator, the only way he could be catching up to him this way would be if he was spending most, if not all, of his qi towards his legs.

Bing knew that wasn't the case though. As far as he knew, Lei had three main martial arts and one he doesn't use often. His main ones were his fishing art, movement art, and auxiliary art. The one he used rarely was just a common body martial art. Unless Lei was using some technique that he hasn't shared with him or Ying, that meant that Lei Zhi's movement art was just this naturally quick! Was it possible that he was holding back against him and Ying in their spars? The level of his movement martial art was by far the best out of anyone in their group. Even Hu Tao can't compare to Lei's!

"Training isn't supposed to be this life-threatening!" Bing barely dodged the spark sent from the rhino's horn, losing a few pieces of hair in the process.

"Some people would disagree! Do you know how many body cultivators face death just by training?!" He asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Bing yelled in confusion. Why was he talking about this sort of stuff now?

"I was just saying that the type of training one goes through differs from one person to the next!" Lei Zhi avoided a spark of his own that destroyed a large portion of the ground in front of him, forcing him to jump over a large crater. "So, it wouldn't be too much to say that some people think that training is supposed to be life-threatening normally. I mean it's not common sense for most but what is common sense, you know?" He chatted.

"Is now the time to be talking about this sort of stuff?!" Bing interrupted.

"Just trying to make conversation! It helps take one's mind off impending death when talking about things like this!"

Just as the two were 'peacefully' talking away, they saw two figures up ahead. One was standing and the other was on their knees. Bing planned to ignore them and let them get caught up in the problem behind them in the off chance that they'll take care of it for them but Lei had a different idea from him it seems.

* * *

Tang Wuying held his giant boomerang under Liuxian's jaw, keeping his head held up. After their battle, he was the victor. Liuxian's life was in his hands and his to do with as he pleased. To think that someone this weak had thoughts about courting his woman, it's laughable! Now here he was about to die because he had the misfortune of meeting him inside the Plains.

Just as Tang raised his great weapon to finish off the fool, the ground began to rumble and shake. He looked at the immobile Liuxian and could tell that it wasn't him. The stubborn idiot still dared to look at him with such a glare in his eye? Did he not know the difference between them was like that of the heaven and earth? He should make his death more painful because of that look.

"What is that sound?" Tang Wuying turned around to see a sight he honestly didn't expect in the least.

Two disciples were running straight towards him with a 9th stage beast chasing them from.

"Please run away fellow disciples! This little fella is fast for his size!" The old man warned as he and his ally ran straight towards him. Only earning a glare from Tang.

He heard the sound of something from behind him and saw Xun Liuxian shooting off into the sky despite all his limbs being broken. The weak bastard dared to smirk at him as if this would be enough to handle him. He'll rip this beast apart and then find Liuxian again to teach him never to cross him or Xiao Hong again! These two fools that interrupted him will also be punished for distracting him. To think that all of this happened just because he heard that Xiao Hong was headed towards the Great Tower...

* * *

The disciple they just passed by ignored Lei's warning and stood his ground against the Sparking Rhino. Bing wasn't too worried for him as he managed to sense his cultivation when they passed by him. He was a 9th stage Qi Gatherer so, even if he wasn't able to defeat the animal then he could surely escape it. He wasn't able to see his face clearly but both of them recognized that strange weapon he held in his hands.

"He's definitely going to be fine." Bing said.

"If he could defeat the talented Gong Jun, then a beast on the level of the Sparking Rhino won't be much."

"It's a good thing we ran into him. Who knows how much longer we would've had to run if he wasn't there?"

"The Great Tower isn't that far away is it?" Lei asked.

Bing suddenly looked up at the imposing tower in the distance and gulped.

"We just left a fellow disciple to handle our problem for no reason, didn't we?"

"That's what it's looking like to me... If we ran a bit longer then we would've reached the tower in no time." Bing answered.

"You don't think he'll accept a heartfelt apology, do you?" Lei wondered.

"Seeing the way he dealt with his senior apprentice brother in that duel a couple months ago, no. I do not think he'll take a simple apology."

"Maybe he's more forgiving than he looks."

"Maybe Lei. Maybe." Bing 100% doubted that Tang Wuying ever forgave anything in his life. He didn't share the same positive look on like as Lei Zhi did. If anything, his views of people were far more negative in comparison. It looks like he'll have to think of a plan to deal with Tang Wuying along with the Huan clan for the future.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	73. Tang and Gong

"The Treasured Plains aren't as tough as I thought it would be." Tang spoke.

"Well that's because we haven't reached one of the main areas yet. That's where the real treasures of this sacred place are." Gong responded.

"Why did Second Senior suggest we spend all our time in the Great Tower?"

"Weren't you listening Junior Brother? We would gain the most there in comparison to the other Great Areas for our current cultivation rank." Gong explained.

"So, we're too weak, is it?" Tang understood in other terms.

His Second Senior wouldn't send them to their deaths for no reason. Although it pissed him off, he wasn't too upset considering that they had someone looking out for them. He'd just have to get stronger so that no one would need to care for him like a child. And his chance for strength is staring down on him right now in the form of that stupidly big black tower.

"In harsher words, yes." Gong agreed with a pleasant tone in his voice.

"Gong." Tang was wondering something about his Fourth Senior.

They've been inside the Treasured Plains for some time now but Gong who has always been ahead of him in cultivation, has suddenly stagnated at the 9th stage. He knew a crafty bastard like him wouldn't do something like this without reason. He himself just started filling his qi sea. Tang suspected Gong knew of some advantageous secret that he didn't know.

"Yes?"

"Why are you still at the 9th stage?"

"I haven't had much luck lately in my cultivation." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"Don't joke with me you clown. I know you're hiding something about the 9th stage. Tell me."

"Now, how could I just give out my secrets for free Junior Brother? If you're willing to part with the secret of how you actually obtained that weapon of yours then maybe I could share the secret I'm hiding about the 9th stage."

"I made a deal for it." Tang answered.

"Welp, I knew you wouldn't give up the secret that easily. I guess I'll have to... wait what?!" Gong reacted in a rare moment of surprise as Tang willingly shared the secret he's been hiding for months. Even from their master!

"Now tell me." Tang demanded.

"You made a deal for it? What kind of deal? You aren't going to betray Elder Mo, are you?" Gong asked seriously.

"Quit speaking nonsense. I answered your question, now answer mine."

Gong dropped his shoulders in defeat. Who knew his Junior Brother would actually tell him how he got his spirit weapon? Even with the combined efforts of him and Third Senior constantly asking and annoying him for weeks on end didn't break him. Gong guessed Little Tang's pride couldn't accept him having an advantage over him even though he was the one seriously disadvantaged right now.

The Stellar-ranked sword Elder Mo bought for him couldn't compare to Tang's boomerang. Little Tang's rapid growth in strength was directly related to that weapon of his. Now Gong couldn't slack off in the slightest or the junior would pass the senior. It was already a great humiliation that he lost in an official duel against Tang. But he refused to let that black mark on his history be something that defined him. He challenged Tang to another duel a week later inside their master's mansion and managed to win that time after being aware of the secret technique that vastly improved Tang's speed at the cost of taxing his body.

Gong's goal right now was to find a spirit weapon or tool that could compare to his junior's weapon. After spending several months training with him and Third Senior, he knew the type of object he needed was something that money could not buy. The Treasured Plains was his only chance to make sure that Tang doesn't slip past him. Even with his own high talent, there are some things that can't be handled with talent alone. Luck is also a required factor for one to rise to the heavens.

"I guess I have no choice." Gong sighed helplessly.

Tang's ears perked up.

"Once you reach the 9th stage of the Qi Gathering realm, you only need to do one thing. Make a sea of qi within your dantian." Tang nodded as he knew this information already.

"Before I tell you why I am staying at the 9th stage, let me ask you a question." Tang looked irritated at this statement, but Gong believed it was important.

"Hurry up."

"Why do you think it's called a qi sea?"

"How am I supposed to know?! What does this have to do with anything?!"

"At least try to answer the question Little Tang."

"Because its blue and when controlling the qi into a pool, it looks like water." Tang gave the first answer that came to his mind.

"A sensible answer but wrong." Visible veins appeared on Tang's forehead.

"In the days of past when Immortals were as numerous as clouds in the sky, it was common for cultivators to stay in the 9th stage for hundreds of years by choice." Tang willingly stayed quiet this time and let Gong finish, causing him to smile.

"The reason for this was because they realized that at the 9th stage, the amount of qi they could fill inside their dantian was only limited by how much qi control they had mastery over." Gong could see Tang in deep thought. Perhaps he was understanding exactly what he was getting at without him telling him directly.

"So, what you're saying is I can make this tiny puddle in my dantian into something as large as an ocean or the sky with enough qi control?" Tang asked seriously.

"That's exactly what I was saying Junior Brother." Gong smiled at him. Tang was not dumb in any manner. He was just as gifted as other prodigies. It was just that his emotions and pride always took prevalence over using his brain in most cases.

"Hmph. Let's keep moving then." Tang began walking in front.

"Not even a thanks Junior Brother?"

"We both exchanged information we believed that were of equal value. I don't see why I need to thank you for anything."

"Equal value!? You barely told me anything!"

"You need a better sense for business Fourth Senior. It is your own fault if you get taken advantage of in a trade." Tang spoke as if he was the wiser disciple.

"You got me this time Little Tang. I must admit, I didn't think you'd be able to trick me."

"Are you calling me dumb, you fake bastard?" Tang gripped the strap on the end of his boomerang.

"Of course not Junior Brother, I just thought you only cared about cultivation and training. Who knew you would have the mind for business and other such subjects?"

"I'm not stupid you damn fox! You're saying that I'm only good for training and cultivating while being stupid at everything else!" Tang swung his weapon towards Gong.

"Okay, you got me again Little Tang. I apologize for making fun of your intelligence. I'm learning more surprising things about you than ever inside here." Gong avoided the attack by leaning his body to the side while also aiming his sword at Tang's defenseless neck.

"Don't think you've won this either. I could've easily gotten out of the way of your stupid sword." Tang pushed his sword away with his palm.

"Whatever you say Junior Brother." Gong flashed his trademark smile. A completely fake smile that hid the true personality of Gong, in Tang's opinion.

The two went back to traveling towards the Great Tower. Gong continued to make pointless conversation to Tang with Tang sometimes responding back and sometimes ignoring him outright. Along the way, Tang spotted a figure in the distance that made him curious. Gong could sense the killing intent leaking from Tang and also looked on curiously. That distinctive hair with dark purple streaks and thin body reminded Tang of someone. A certain someone that refused to heed the warnings given by his followers. To stay away from his woman, Xiao Hong or face death! Tang walked towards the person and Gong followed behind him.

"You. With the stupid hair. Turn around." Tang commanded.

The unknown youth didn't even act like he heard Tang Wuying. He just kept walking forward.

"Hmph. An arrogant bastard huh? Sounds just like him." Tang's followers told him of Liuxian's arrogance.

He lifted his weapon off his back and threw it right towards the mysterious youth! Whether it was Xiao's stalker or not, it didn't matter. Anyone who dared act so haughty in front of him deserved to die. Especially when it was a nobody like this. His boomerang spun with enough force to distort the wind around it.

The cocky youth ducked underneath Tang's boomerang just as it was about to cleave him in half. The trees in front of him took his place as the curved weapon sliced apart the wide trees like paper. The great spirit weapon started flying back towards Tang with the young man unaware of the danger behind him. A smirk appeared on Tang's face as he imagined the arrogant bastard being split from the center with his weapon.

But unlike what he thought would happen, the youth did a small hop over the dangerous hunting weapon, avoiding it entirely. Tang Wuying skillfully caught his weapon by the strap and looked into the eyes of the figure. Those piercing eyes staring at him with enough killing intent to nearly overwhelm his own. Now he had to teach this fool a lesson for daring to look at him with such eyes. They may be at the same stage but he was a genius that was blessed by Lord Tyanir. Nobody in his age group could be his match.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Liuxian is the boy with the Ancient God's Lung if you forgot. The one Li Li wanted to tear out of his chest and gift to his mother. The lung he got after being killed by Tang's followers in Yellow Jade City. That came falling from the sky from who knows where? The same lung fought with Li Li in Ch 4. Remember?

Okay okay i'm done messing around. I might release another chapter on Sunday since this chapter was pretty bareboned. It depends if i find the energy to combat against my lazy nature and write 1 or 2 more chapters for this book before Sunday comes. Comments help boost my motivation for writing! Just in case anyone was wondering...

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	74. Overwhelming Power

"I was thinking of asking your name but since you want to look at me with such a look, it'll be better to kill you right here." Tang Wuying said.

The man who ordered the hit on his life for such an insignificant event stared at him straight in the face. The same man who he swore to end along with his entire ancestry stood in front of him. Just seeing him like this was enough to send his usually repressed emotions into a frenzy. He could just barely hold himself back from flying right into Tang's face. Even though he knew he stood no chance against him right now.

He still hasn't found a sky-ranked magical treasure that could compare to Tang's spirit weapon. He's gained a few lucky items but nothing that could aid him in killing Tang. Meeting his worst enemy at a time like this was unlucky. But then again... he could find out how he compares to Tang Wuying right now. He might not win but that didn't mean he'd lose. All of his training has been for the day he kills this man. He couldn't refuse the temptation to see how he stacked up against him right now! If he ran away today, he'd always run away from him in his heart. He could probably even be good enough to battle him to a standstill as long as he doesn't use that move that defeated Gong Jun.

Then he would have to retreat, or his life would be forfeit before he could even blink. Back then when he saw Tang Wuying pull off that move, he was part of the weak majority in the stands that couldn't trace his movements. Seeing the person he hates most, surpass him more than he already has made him pissed beyond belief. His rapidly growing strength only made Xun train 10x harder than he already does. Now he would have his chance to see if that torture, he calls training, needed to be increased.

In a huge burst of wind, Xun disappeared from his previous spot and appeared in front of Tang, swinging his fist right towards his face! This surprise attack was used with all of his strength and speed! If this one attack connects, then it'll do enough damage to weaken Tang! And if he's weakened, his chances of winning will be higher.

"Did you think that was fast enough to take me by surprise?" Xun's fist was suddenly soaring right next to Tang's head, instead of towards his face.

"I missed...?" Xun expressed in disbelief.

A surprise attack while holding nothing back was easily dodged by Tang. An attack that was quick enough to surprise another 9th stage Qi Gatherer was looked at as nothing more than child play in Tang's eyes.

"You're that Liuxian bastard, aren't you?" Tang asked as he allowed Xun to go flying past his shoulder.

Xun skillfully halted his lunge and turned around to face Tang.

"How did you dodge that?"

A vein propped up on Tang's forehead.

"Daring to ignore my questions? Now I really must kill a disrespectful bastard like you, or I won't have any face left to my name. Gong, head to the tower without me. Someone has to teach these ignorant fools about respect."

"Well, if you say so Junior Brother. But before I go, Xun Liuxian." Gong called out to him.

"Hm?" If he had to face both Gong and Tang at once, this place would become his grave. Running away from the both was a pipe dream.

"You don't know a person named Fu Kang, do you?" A strange gaze landed upon him.

"No. I never heard of that name before." Xun responded honestly.

He looked almost disappointed that Xun didn't know of this Fu Kang.

"Well alright. Thanks for honestly answering me. If you manage to survive against my Junior Brother, I'll be sure to send in a good word to Xiao Hong for you." He laughed.

"You shitty two-faced fox! Whose side are you on!?" Tang exploded at Gong.

"Haha, I'm just joking Little Tang. No need to get so upset. If you don't arrive at the tower an hour after I arrived, I'll come back to get your corpse." Gong innocently chuckled as he walked away.

Tang threw his boomerang towards the back of his ally seemingly aiming to kill him. Why would he throw away his weapon when he was in the middle of a fight? Xun didn't understand it but he would surely take advantage of the current situation! Xun blew out air tainted with the qi that became a part of him since the merging with the ancient lung. The air was one with him. It could be controlled however he wanted it.

And he would use it to send a flying punch towards the defenseless Tang! He created an air bubble in front of himself and with all of his strength, pulled his arm back and used his fist to strike out with frightening force! The bubble distorted from the impact and sent an invisible projectile straight towards Tang. This was truly an undefendable attack! If you couldn't see it, how could you defend against it?

"Did you think that I was weak without my sacred weapon? Just how much are you going to underestimate me?" Tang suddenly appeared behind him!

The intense pain shooting up in his now cracked ribs as he was sent flying away made him realize that maybe he was outmatched far more than he thought he was. As his surroundings turned into a blur, he saw Tang catching his spirit weapon and his back feeling like it shattered into a thousand pieces after smashing through several trees. How could there be such a difference between them? Such a giant difference in strength between two cultivators of the same stage...

Xun's master was on the same level as Tang's master. The teachings he's received couldn't be any less than Tang's. There was only one reason why Tang could be this far ahead of him. It wasn't because of his background. Not because of his talent being higher than his. Nor was it because he trained harder than him. There was no way it was the last one.

It was all because of that spirit weapon he's gained. Tang's level of martial arts wasn't high. Gong Jun easily out skilled him in their duel. The only reason he lost in their duel was because he was taken by surprise. Xun could tell that his strength was only because of that weapon.

Tang becoming so strong because of that weapon caused all of his anger to bubble up inside his chest, creating a stuffy feeling inside him. A feeling that he couldn't control the more he stared at that arrogant look on Tang Wuying's face. Having him stand over him like this, condescendingly looking down on him, enraged Xun! After what he did to him, he still had the nerve to look at him with those cold eyes!

* * *

"Not as strong as what I heard from them." Tang spoke, thinking back to the words his followers told him.

"But then again, it's not like I was expecting much. If Xiao could be interested in trash of this level, then it shouldn't be too hard to have her fall in love with me." But the words of that annoying fox from earlier bothered him.

Why would someone of Xiao Hong's standing be interested in trash like this? As far as he could tell, it definitely wasn't his strength. And if he was comparing looks then he didn't lose out to this weakling either. Did he hold some sort of secret that wasn't connected to his strength? His qi was rather strange but so was his own. A cultivator having unusual qi didn't mean they were powerful. It just meant that they practiced a rare or uncommon martial art. Tang's special qi was because of his connection to Lord Tyanir. So, he was a unique case as far as having different qi went.

Could it be that Liuxian's qi had a special connection to Xiao Hong's? Or was the background of his qi related to the ancient blood of the Ice Giants? Just thinking about why Xiao was so interested in this guy pissed him off. It would be easier just to kill him and ask his father to send a marriage proposal to her family. Well, maybe it would be too soon for a marriage proposal. His father's city in comparison to the powerful background of the Hong's isn't equal in value. Maybe if he took over Crimson Ruby City, another city comparable his father's, then it could be tempting enough.

'But in any case, leaving this guy alive would hold no benefits to himself.'

Making up his mind to deal with this annoyance, Tang heaved his giant boomerang above his head. Tang could sense that the trash was trying something with his qi but no matter what it was it wouldn't save him from his death. He brought down the Apostle's weapon and prepared himself for the gory blood spray.

"If you reigned in that arrogance of yours then maybe you would've died less painfully." Tang sent him off with some wise parting words.

Or at least he believed he did. But the sudden pain running up his jaw along with the ground quickly becoming farther away made him think otherwise.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright we'll i decided to release the chapter on Sunday like i said i might even though i didn't write any chapters since the last time i talked to you guys. Recently i've been sucked up into the endless waves of pokemon rom hacks and been literallly playing them for the past 2 days non-stop. This upcoming week, i promise to write a chapter every day for this series. The chapters i got stocked up are slowly narrowing in distance from the ones i have put out and that's scary. That means i'm being a lazy piece of shit!

Anyway, Fight chapter next time and maybe the chapter after that. Then we're with Jing again i think. Not sure. But a really big thing is going to happen to Jing coming soon! So prepare yourselves! I had fun writing it and the chapter after it! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	75. Infuriating Defeat

Looking down at Liuxian's new form, made Tang question just what kind of trick did he just pull to get strong enough to surprise him like that? Tang wanted to say that it was just a fluke but seeing that trash jumping his way straight towards him with speed that's on a completely different level than before, stopped him. Seeing the abundant qi radiating off of Liuxian and bulging veins all over him body led Tang to guess that he couldn't hold this technique for long. It was similar to his Overdrive technique where his speed would be multiplied at the cost of heavily straining his body.

"Fine. This will only slightly prolong your death. I'm not one for playing with my opponents like my senior brothers anyway. You want to live so badly? Prove that you can survive against my strength!" Tang gripped his weapon in preparation for the incoming Liuxian.

"I'll kill you!" Liuxian screamed.

His fist was shrouded in a green giant gauntlet made of qi! A qi construct at the Qi Gathering realm!? Not even Tang himself could pull something like that off yet! And that pissed him off! It was a direct slap to his face! Tang didn't hold back as he swung his boomerang into the gauntlet, clashing with Liuxian high into the air.

"What... is this strength?!" Tang spoke through his teeth, enraged.

He was being pushed back! Pushed back by this trash who had their sights on his woman! Unbelievable! A waste who a couple of seconds ago couldn't even react to his speed was now able to fight him?! Just what kind of technique was able to give him this type of strength?!

Liuxian overpowered Tang in their clash and sent him flying down to the trees below and not a second later, followed right after him. Anger and rage were the only thing visible on Tang's face as he saw Liuxian chasing after him from above. He controlled his fall by sending qi to his legs and landing on the ground. If he didn't do that, his legs would've been broken from trying to safely land from that height.

Liuxian was right on his tail. Just as he landed, the trash immediately tried to crush him with that stupid glove. He was forced to jump out of the way or have several bones of his crushed. The damn fool was like a wild animal, never giving him time to rest. A suicidal fighting style if he had a blade but he wouldn't let that be an excuse. The first apostle's weapon is more than enough for someone like this. Plus, the ground was much easier to fight on than in the air.

Tang concentrated his qi into flowing throughout his body. He wasn't going to stay on the defensive anymore. Liuxian's fist passed right by his face just like the first time. Tang swung his boomerang into the fool's gut, only to see it completely miss as Liuxian shot wind from his palm, knocking himself away and out of the range of Tang's weapon.

"Did I scare you?" Tang smirked.

"Die!" Liuxian gathered the qi-infused wind around him into a sphere.

The sphere formed in between his palms as he sent it flying straight towards Tang. The amount of concentrated qi in that sphere was enough to tell Tang that he couldn't handle that technique head on. He jumped into the air to avoid it only to see the disrespectful bastard smirking at him. How dare he?!

"Did I scare you?" He repeated his own words back at him.

His pride wouldn't allow such humiliation, Tang charged right for Liuxian instead of avoiding the wind sphere. Only to suddenly see a change in the technique as he was passing by it. The ball started rapidly expanding before exploding with an unbelievable amount of force that uprooted the trees around it. Tang Wuying was sent flying a great distance away but just before he was hit by the explosion, he managed to negate the damage by using one of his latest martial art techniques.

"Heavenly Revolution!" He rapidly spun with his giant boomerang.

A spinning dome made out of Tang's qi protected him from the powerful eruption. His dome was carving through the ground itself as he came to a rough stop. Once he stopped spinning, he saw just how far he was sent thanks to that strange technique. If he was hit by that directly, even he couldn't confidently claim that he would live through it. The number of bulging veins on Tang's body was nearly matching Liuxian.

"You dare push me this far?! Me, Tang Wuying?! Having to take some unknown trash like you seriously is such a disgrace to my name! You should've just died like the bug you were! This young lord will now teach you a lesson that you'll never forget for the rest of your life." Tang Wuying's qi flowed through his body like a furious tidal wave.

A golden yellow aura faintly glowed around his body. His red pupils gained a slight tinge of yellow in them as he dashed towards Liuxian. Blood was now leaking from Liuxian's face, he couldn't keep up this transformation for long but Tang wouldn't let him die from something like that either. His pride wouldn't be regained if this fool died on his own!

* * *

Tang appeared behind Xun with his weapon heading straight towards the back of his neck. The giant gauntlet holder blocked the attack by back fisting it. His fist suddenly didn't feel any resistance anymore as Tang appeared in front of him with the boomerang going for his throat now! Xun didn't have enough time to block with his wind gauntlet, he was forced to dodge using his body alone. He ducked underneath the large weapon only to sense Tang directly above him now!

He was using his speed to overwhelm him! If he let this continue, Tang would whittle him down easily! Xun needed to take the initiative or else his body would break down before he could truly do any damage to Tang. His biggest problem was that damn spirit weapon of his. It should be easier to handle Tang without that thing in the way.

Xun grabbed Tang's great weapon and forced it out of his hands with his superior strength. Xun expected to see Tang's face twisted in anger but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, he lost sight of Tang and heard a sharp crack coming from behind him. Following that loud crack was severe pain coming from his right leg and an uncontrollable scream coming out of his mouth.

"Don't worry, we still have a few more bones to break." He heard as another snap sounded out.

Xun fell on his knees, unable to stand with two broken legs. Was this how his story going to end? At Tang Wuying's mercy? The man who ordered his death being the one to kill him twice? He didn't want to accept it. He wanted to scream at the heavens and shake his fist at the injustice of it all. But he could no longer move anymore. The technique he used to catch up to Tang wore off, leaving his body drained and full of injuries.

Why were men like Tang Wuying allowed to be so gifted? Did the heavens truly favor the wicked? Or is it that the heavens do not care about one's nature and only strength? Is strength the only thing that truly matters in a world like this?

'Why did I have to born in such a terrible world...? A life filled with nothing but the goal of becoming strong... Becoming strong so that you could do whatever you pleased. Or staying hidden and out of sight, so that you don't anger the ones who are strong. Why couldn't I be born in a world where strength wasn't everything?'

Xun couldn't even let out a whimper after Tang just broke both of his arms. He could only wait for his death. His second death in which he had no control over. It wasn't a peaceful or natural death. It was a death brought from an evil and terrible being. A death caused just because he got on the bad side of someone stronger than him. This kind of shitty world was truly laughable.

If he could laugh, he would. Living in a world like this had to be some type of sick joke. If it was up to him, he would like to change things. Change a world like this where those stronger than others can do as they pleased. A world where such terrible things like this happen every day. A world where the vile are seen as people to envy and praise.

'It just isn't fair...' Tears slowly dropped down his face as Tang held his weapon above his arms.

* * *

The ground started to rumble underneath Tang's feet.

"What is that sound?" Tang Wuying turned around to see a sight he honestly didn't expect in the least.

Two disciples were running straight towards him with a 9th stage beast chasing them from.

He heard the sound of something from behind him and saw Xun Liuxian shooting off into the sky despite all his limbs being broken. He promised to give a painful death to the weak fool in the future but first he has to deal with this annoying animal first. Those two that brought this stupid beast towards him won't be spared either! So many annoyances in one day, how irritating!

Tang used the remainder of his qi to infuse into his giant boomerang. The holy weapon glowed with a golden aura as Tang threw it towards the charging rhino. The wind easily split apart as it flew through the air. The Sparking Rhino shot out a small spark from its horn to combat against the hunting weapon. An explosion of lightning qi combusted on Tang's weapon but it did little to stop its rotational power. The spinning boomerang cut off the spirit beast's horn and lodged itself deep into the forehead of the grey beast.

It cried out in pain as blood gushed from its forehead. Tang only clicked his tongue in disappointment. He couldn't bisect the dumb animal because of how little qi he had remaining. If he was full on qi, that beast would be dead right now. This whole humiliating and infuriating experience only highlighted how much more training he needed. What kind of genius would allow themselves to be humiliated this much?

'How shameful...' He crushed his fists as he called his boomerang back. He's spent too much time here. If that annoying fool also came back here, he wouldn't have any face left at all.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright and with this we conclude this little part with Tang Wuying! Next chapter we'll be with Jing!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	76. Wolfeng Gang's Lucky Break!

"Where the hell are we?"

"Why can't I see anything?"

"Do any of you bastard practice a fire martial art?"

Jing was quite surprised this kind of event happened. She didn't even try to land here, it was purely coincidental that they arrived in some sort of treasure room filled with gold and magical treasures. When she made that teleporting array for the Wolfeng Gang, she was being honest when she said that she didn't know where it was going to go. It was her first time in the Treasured Plains, she didn't know where things were. Jing also hasn't had much practice with long-ranged teleporting arrays either. She mostly used the short-ranged ones for combat purposes.

Ever since she refined herself, she's has had no trouble with seeing in complete darkness. Jing also didn't have any issues seeing in complete brightness either. So, when she lit up a talisman that helped everyone see, she could stare right at it without any irritation to her eyes. Jing thought to herself that these talismans are a lot handier than she thought they would be. Why doesn't everyone try and master these spells? With enough time, you could potentially prepare yourself for any occasion with little risk to yourself.

"Jing, have I ever told you how much I love you, because I do now..." Everyone could see their surroundings now. Jing made her cheeks blush at this statement.

"Holy fucking shit guys. Do you see where we landed?!"

"We're rich!" They cheered loudly before rushing towards the shining loot like a pack of animals, even Ears wasn't exempt.

"Don't you dare fucking touch that pouch, you boneless bastard!" Ears shouted.

"I call that golden sword!"

"Call it over my ass porky! I'm getting that baby!"

"I never seen so much money in my entire life..." He rapidly shoved the gold coins into his pockets.

"Your pockets are already filled you greedy bastard! Leave some for us!"

"Oi! Zihao, don't think I can't see you shoving gold in your underwear!"

"Eat me you gay bastard! Stop looking at my junk!"

"You greedy tiny dick having bastard!"

"It's cold in here fuck face!"

It was quite a chaotic situation but a good type of chaos. No one was being too malicious or greedy with one another. Some punches were thrown here and there but nothing really serious. Jing usually favored the opposite type of chaos where there was nothing but malice, death, and riled emotions. But this type of situation wasn't too bad either. Jing was looking forward to seeing her chosen followers acting like this in the future. It might be a bit awkward though considering she doesn't really communicate with them. She still has time to change that though.

Jing suddenly felt that there was no point to being a leader if you weren't willing to connect with those that follow you. Obviously, she would need to connect with them and have them want to connect with her. Ruling through fear was viable in the short run but this group wasn't short term. What she planned to do was something that was going to take several months and years. Jing would have to rethink how to be a proper leader along with treating her followers correctly now that she's seeing the way Wenling runs her squad. Once these Treasured Plains are over, she'll start making some big changes to the way she runs her group. Jing will also need to give her group a name.

"What are you waiting for my protégé?" Wenling asked her as she rested her heavy breasts on the back of her head.

"I just thought that I should let everyone else choose first and then I'll pick when everyone else got what they wanted..." Her face was flushed at the contact with Wenling's chest.

"Aren't you just the sweetest? But that's not how things work around here. It was because of you we even found this place so of course, you get first pick of what you want. You deserve to be rewarded properly." She said.

When Jing got to know Wenling after the ranking match with her, Jing just thought that she had no sense for proper distancing between people. But as Jing spent more time with her, she realized that she's only this close and touchy with her specifically. This still didn't help her understand why she was like this though. Was she sexually attracted to her or was she falling for her innocent and gentle act?

"Alright, listen up you pieces of shit! I don't want to see another single thing touched by anyone else before Jing gets her pick of the loot. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the reason we're even in here in the first place, do I?!" Wenling's gentle and seductive voice was replaced by the voice of a strong leader that demanded her troops attention.

"No, Captain!" Everyone responded seriously, no matter what awkward position they were in or items they were wearing.

"Good. Now, go on my apprentice. Take whatever you like. Even if someone already has it on them. If they dare complain, I'll rip their balls off." Everyone held their hands over their genitals.

"Okay..." Jing squeaked.

From what Jing could see, there was nothing too valuable inside this room that she couldn't gain with SCP-914. But there were a couple things she was missing that would work with SCP-914's 1:1 setting and a few others that would be nice for her followers. Jing grabbed a single gold coin, a small purple box with 2 metal needles inside, and a nameless brown book sitting on the floor. Everyone was probably wondering why she picked those items in specific. She saw no need to explain herself.

"I'm done..." Everyone looked towards Wenling who seems dissatisfied that Jing took so little.

"Well, if you say so. Alright! Get back to looting!" She ordered while going to take some stuff of her own for now.

The three items she took weren't super rare treasures that only she could see the true value of. The gold coin was for reward purposes to her followers, the needles were for Lei Zhi, and the book just pricked her interest. In a room filled with all this shiny and attention-grabbing stuff, why would some book that brings no attention to itself be inside here as well? Well that's because it was just as important or even more valuable than the rest!

Well, at least that's what she thought until she opened it to try and read it. The ink was barely legible and basically impossible to try and read even with her superior vision. It was upsetting to Jing that she couldn't tell if this was trash or treasure. Jing tossed the book into her satchel and waited for everyone to finish stuffing themselves with mortal and stellar ranked treasures.

When they were done, Wenling led the shiny excited bandits out of the room and back into the forest. They were now on their way to the Great Tower and would spend the rest of their time in the Treasured Plains there. Now that they've gotten all this stuff, they didn't need to risk their lives in the Great Mountain. The Great Mountain was the most dangerous area in the Treasured Plains compared to the other 3. The Great Tower was the least dangerous due to the many safe floors and areas inside it.

"You know Jing, I always thought that spellmasters were useless cowardly bastards. But ever since I've seen what you could do with those talismans, my mind has been changed."

"Oh... Uhm..." Jing couldn't finish as someone else chimed in.

"Yeah me too! If I knew talismans could do so much stuff, I probably would've tried it myself!"

"A dumb bastard like you? Ha."

"You don't have to be smart to know how to draw."

"But you gotta be smart to use them the way Jing here does. I mean who would've ever thought of using a qi bubble to stop themselves from drowning?"

"That's true, that's true. There was also when she used that flash spell to help us kill those guys. I've only seen spellmasters use that to run away! Never to fight with!"

"I didn't know you sorry bastards were ugly and stupid. Who in their right mind would ever think of spellmasters as weak? Have none of you seen a talented one fight?" Ears barked at them.

"I didn't know there were talented ones!" This joke caused a few of them to laugh.

"Don't underestimate formation specialists. Body cultivators like yourselves are easy pickings for them. Brute force only works on less experienced array masters. If any of you tried to face off against a decent spellmaster, you wouldn't be able to do anything but die." A few bandits gulped at this information.

"They can't be that strong, can they?" He asked frightfully.

"Well, a body cultivator really only has one way of attacking. That's by charging forward. Depending on the situation, a spellmaster could have set several trapping formations ahead of time to deal with the body cultivator. The trapping formations could vary from burning you alive, drowning you, striking you with lightning, sending thousands of qi blades to bleed you out, or restricting your movements and slowly stabbing a sword through your gut." Jing unconsciously remarked.

Seeing the way she casually listed all those horrible ways of dying off made them more fearful than Wenlings explanation! They definitely need a way to deal with spellmasters for the future! Focusing solely on body cultivation was no longer their primary path! It might cost a few more resources in the long run but their lives were even more important! Money was no issue if they could protect their lives! They were going to learn some qi techniques!

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.

Next chapter will be a bit suspenseful. At least i think so.


	77. Tranquil Fury

"Damn it! What the hell kind of situation is this?!" Scars cried out, his blade struggling to hold back against another sword.

Wenling's squad was pincered between the Fearsome Garden and some members of the Huan clan. They teamed up to eliminate them for their recently acquired goods and the shiny bandits refused to give up their loot. They'd rather die than lose their spoils a second time. This crooked but reasonable determination fueled their strength into defending their goods even more. Wenling's squad was battling fairly well against their two rivals with their new treasures.

"These guys are tougher than I thought!" A Huan Clan member shouted.

"It's that plain-looking girl over there!" A Fearsome Garden member pointed at Jing.

"Kill her!" They saw that she was the reason why they couldn't kill these guys so easily.

"Eep!" Jing squeaked.

During this battle Jing has spent most of her time supporting the members with supportive spells while keeping out of harm with movement talisman. If she saw that anyone was injured, she would place a healing talisman on them and teleport away to the next person she saw in trouble. If she someone struggle to match their opponent, she would slap a strength talisman, agility talisman, or a defense talisman on them. These supportive talisman were only giving temporary boosts to the people they were attached to. They would increase their physical strength, speed and senses, or skin until the qi within the talisman ran out. Some cultivators could send their qi into the talisman to increase the time but it would start to drain their own qi reserves.

Most of the members in Wenling's squad didn't take notice of Jing as they were to focused on staying alive and protecting their loot but some people did. It just so happened that it was the enemy side that noticed her. Ears and Wenling knew that they wouldn't be able to hold off this ambush even if all of them resisted with all they had. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Jing was the sole reason why they haven't fled with full force yet. There was a possibility they could win if she continued to support them with her spells. Wenling wouldn't give up if there was still a chance of victory. If they could turn this situation around, the amount of goods they would get from these two groups would be worth the struggle.

"Protect Jing with your lives or we will die here!" Wenling commanded.

"None of you bastards better die in the meantime!" Ears added.

Everyone was focused on the small brown girl with glasses. Seeing his mother being targeted upset Li Li greatly. If he wasn't asked to restrain his power, he would tear all of these annoyances to pieces with his talons. He limited himself to Wenling's general level of strength and took on anyone daring to come towards his mother. Li Li silently but quickly took flight. His talons tore through cultivators with ease. Anyone that wasn't at the 8th stage or higher died or suffered grievous injuries after meeting head on with the owlet.

The losses were piling up so quickly that the strongest of their forces had to gang up on the baby owl or they would be wiped out! Wenling and Ears used this chance to support Li Li and gain a huge advantage. The merciless little spirit beast spared none of their enemies! He used the information he was taught by his mother a long time ago and targeted only their vital points. Making it easier on the rest of the gang to outnumber and overpower the remaining cultivators. Soon, only the leaders and their right-hand men were left, albeit in badly injured states.

"Damn it! No one told me about this at all!"

"A spellmaster with a 9th stage spirit beast and 2 9th stage Qi Gatherers... What kind of unfair bullshit..."

"I know you bastards aren't talking about unfair! Joining together just to annihilate us? Are you that scared of our potential?" Ears commented.

"Like anyone would be frightened of a bunch of stupid bandits. We just figured it would be better to take out trash like you than to allow your group to continue to ruin the image of our great sect."

"What a shame. Looks like the only ones being taken out are you." Wenling raised her glaive, preparing to strike.

"Heh. You're really stupid if you think you can kill us. Do you think we prepared this ambush without thinking of the possibility of failure?"

"Yes. You bastards are pretty arrogant." Ears said, making some bandits laugh.

"But before we go.. I think it'll be safer to get rid of this potential threat." She lit up a talisman that surrounded their group.

The talisman drew upon their remaining qi and shaped itself into a fearsome arrow filled with concentrated qi. The arrow shot forward with a speed almost no one could react to. And it was headed straight for Jing! She couldn't even utter a scream as she was sent flying off a cliff with a huge gaping hole within her stomach. The amulet that would protect her for any attack in the 1st realm was immediately shattered by the combined power of the attack.

"Jing!" Wenling screamed in shock. Her rage was raised past its limit in no less than a second as seemed to transform into an entirely different person.

Wenling's qi became sharper and focused. All of it becoming concentrated and far denser. It was like she was transforming into a mighty dragon with just her qi alone. But it seemed that this transformation didn't matter as the two groups were about to teleport away with talisman. However, there was someone even angrier than Wenling.

His anger made Wenling's look miniscule in comparison. The chilling qi that was releasing from him was enough to freeze everyone's soul solid. His piercing eyes glared into the souls of the ones that hurt his mother. Those eyes seemed to grasp their entire being in its gaze. He was like a giant and they were nothing more than just ants. Within a single blink of their eyes, Wenling's squad watched as Li Li disappeared from their sights and seconds later, the remaining Huan clan and Fearsome Garden members were nothing more than sliced pieces of flesh lying on the ground. They themselves couldn't even let out a scream before perishing into meat chunks.

Everyone was shocked speechless at the immense power shown by the little spirit beast. If it wanted, it could easily kill them just as well! Wenling and Ears were no exception! Neither of them were capable of moving at speeds like that. Li Li was in a completely different level despite being in the same stage as them. They could only stare and watch as Li Li flicked the blood off of himself and flew down the cliff. It wasn't until 5 minutes later that the oppressing qi of Li Li wore off and they could speak again.

"I shit myself."

"I might've pissed myself once or twice too."

"Did anyone know that Jing's bird was fucking crazy strong?!"

"Since it could keep up with our Vice Commander, we should've seen it as a sign..."

"I'm going to look for her." Wenling announced, surprising everyone.

"I know you really liked her Commander but..." Wenling's glare shut him up.

"There's no possible way she survived with that injury Wenling, along with falling down that cliff." Ears spoke up for the men.

"You don't know! My apprentice has shown us several amazing things using spells!"

"Commander..."

"Fine. Who said I needed your help anyway?! I'll go look for her myself! Head to the Great Tower and wait for me to come back. If I don't arrive within 5 days, tell Jianyu I'm dead." Wenling started walking off by herself.

"I can't let you do this alone but I also really doubt that she's still alive..." Ears said, standing in front of her.

"If you don't believe she's alive then I don't need you following me! I believe in my apprentice. I promised that I would protect her..." A terrible pain ached Wenling's chest when she thought about how she failed to uphold her words to Jing.

Ears couldn't respond back.

"Just do as I said before. I will find her and bring her back." Wenling walked off alone, leaving her men behind.

"I hope the commander doesn't die."

"She's a good woman."

"Do you think she'd do the same for any of us?"

"I believe she would."

"Yeah, the Commander has taken good care of us so far. If she's willing to go this far for someone who just recently joined the group then she definitely would do the same for us."

"She was her personal apprentice though..."

"Alright! Shut it you harping bastards! Let's get moving to the tower and wait for her eventual return." Ears ordered.

"Shouldn't we loot the bodies first Vice Commander?" Zian asked.

"Oh, nearly slipped my mind. Heh, take the goods and get ready to go."

"How could anyone be covered in blood and surrounded by piles of corpses and forget where they were?"

"Maybe the Vice Commander is getting on in the years. He is bald so, he might be older than he looks."

"You whispering bastards want to die? Do you think these ears are just for decoration!? Get to looting you gossiping little bitches!" Ears was only 20 years old.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope i didnt make any continuity mistakes this chapter but if you find any please let me know. And that isn't just for this chapter, like if u ever see a continuity error always tell me so i can fix it. I'm more than willing to rewrite an entire chapter just so shit makes sense to you guys and i'm not just pulling things out of my ass to make them work in my story. I'm lazy but not too lazy that i can't even straighten out my own story.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	78. Overgrown Simian

Jing saw the powerful spell coming towards her and wondered if she should avoid it. She could use her pathetic nature and trip, avoiding the attack entirely due to luck or she could take it head on and be sent down this cliff. What else did she need to accomplish within these Treasured Plains? She pulled up her system's menu and looked at all of her available quests. There was only 2, possibly 3, quests that she could finish before the end of the Treasured Plains. Killing 100 beings with SCP-109, having 100 cultivators take notice of SCP-109's anomalous properties, and raising a follower's loyalty to 100%. The others would be impossible within this small-time frame.

And then it hit her. Jing made sure to turn off her pain receptors as the spell ripped through her abdominal cavity and took her over the edge. With how quick the situation turned out, Jing couldn't let Li Li know that she would be fine. She hoped that he wouldn't react too strongly. The boy is getting affected by the people inside the Golden Serpent Sect but she hoped to make sure that he doesn't become a total hoodlum. Many cultivators in the Golden Serpent Sect are horrible people whose thoughts usually doing whatever they want to people weaker than them or latching on to the strong and doing whatever it takes to stay attached to them.

Neither of those is what she wishes for Li Li's future path. Jing suddenly felt like this fall was a really long one. She turned her body around and saw that she still had some time before she hit the ground. Was that cliff always there? She didn't remember the path to the Great Tower had a cliff like this. Jing's memory was perfect after her refinement so, there was nothing that she couldn't recall. It was strange.

She didn't think too deeply about it though as she prepared herself to land. Jing put on her mask and tried to land on her feet but with how the laws of the universe function, her legs simply broke upon landing and if anyone was watching her, she'd be thoroughly embarrassed. Jing thought she could handle a fall like that with her full power, but it looks like she overestimated her true strength. She landed in an ungraceful position and had to wait for her legs to heal from the damage.

Jing's natural healing factor was superior to the average person's. It took no longer than 10 seconds for the injury to her legs to completely heal. The situation was slightly humiliating, but Jing focused on getting ready to complete these quests. As far as her senses could tell, this massive forest was filled with spirit beasts of all types.

Jing began reducing the spirit beast population with SCP-109. The beasts stayed between the Consolidation stage and the Core Preparation stage. Jing had no trouble dealing with either realm as the beasts didn't have much intelligence. She did use this chance to improve and practice her martial arts. It was rare for her to find actual situations where she could use her true skills.

Jing worked on her whip art, leg art, body art, and cultivation martial art. Using the water endlessly pouring out from SCP-109, Jing shaped it into a long thorny whip for dismembering spirit beasts. The cries and death throes made by the animals didn't excite Jing at all. They couldn't compare to the same pain and agony made by humans. Perhaps that was her being biased as some animals can feel pain on the same wavelength as humans could but the issue was that they couldn't express it nearly as well as humans could.

It was a shame that she couldn't find some sexual enjoyment in this but then again, they were just simple beasts. Expecting so much out of them would be unusual. Not every animal could be as intelligent or expressive as her Li Li. He was one of the best beasts in this world. When he grew up, there would be no other animal that will be able to match him in anything. As expected of her son.

"Riek!" A giant disgusting frog shot its tongue towards her.

Since she was training her leg martial art, Flowering Domination, she covered her legs with the water of SCP-109 and kicked the sticky thick tongue into the sky before dashing forward. The carnivorous frog was helpless to defend itself from Jing's rapid striking kicks. Its slimy mucus covered skin was drilled through by Jing's attacks, holes appeared on its body everywhere Jing's kicks landed. Jing made sure to avoid any vital areas to prolong the creature's suffering just a bit longer. That way she would be training all three of her martial arts at once.

Her cultivation technique that, for now, can only be trained by causing other to suffer from physical pain. Flowering Domination and her body martial art, Neptune's prophet, that allows her to control water sources other than ones created by herself. So far, there was nothing in this place that forced her to rely on her movement art. It was the only martial skill of hers that was still at the Elementary stage. With her refined senses, it was hard for any situation to require her to dodge or avoid an attack when she could simply counter with her own attack. Just like what she just did with that frog. It would be possible to train it while she was acting as her alter ego but surely someone would catch on to the number of coincidental incidents that should've resulted in her being injured.

Jing shrugged her shoulders and got back to looking for beasts to kill. She stored their dead bodies into a storage ring just in case she might need them for the future. For what reason would she need them later, who knows? Jing doesn't like being wasteful.

Thanks to her mask, none of the animals could sense her until she revealed herself to them, allowing her to strike them first and in most cases, strike a fatal blow. Just like this giant monkey in front of her peacefully resting in front of a tree.

"What a dumb spirit beast. No sense of self-preservation at all. Just sleeping in the open by itself." Jing giggled at its stupidity.

"Hmph. To think a mere human would be cocky enough to insult me to my face. Times must have changed a lot more than I thought if a human didn't acknowledge the difference between stages anymore." The giant monkey suddenly spoke back, startling Jing greatly.

It stood up. The spirit beast was large enough to tower over most adult men. Jing herself only reached up to its crotch. She had to look up to see its face. It stared directly into her eyes, it could see her!

A strange feeling ran through Jing's heart. A feeling that she could only remember feeling once before. A long time ago... It was back when she was inside the Immortal Forest outside Yellow Jade City. She and Li Li were making their way to the city but on their way, they were met by strange furry beast. It was that beast who taught Jing the feeling of fear. Back then, she had yet to refine herself and was still human in every sense. She could've easily died if it were not for Li Li bravely taking on the creature.

Jing felt that same feeling she felt back then, right now. She didn't even realize her body was shaking as she kept her eyes on the large simian. The spirit beast was 3 major stages ahead of her. Would SCP-914 refinements be enough to handle this large of a gap in strength? What about her martial skills, would they be enough to keep her from dying here? Then the spirit beast smirked at her, sensing her fear.

"It seems you aren't as stupid as I first thought. You can tell the difference between our strengths now can't you." All of his 5th stage Core realm qi flowed from his body.

Another feeling rose in protest of her fright. A feeling that yelled at her to wipe that disgusting smirk off the face of this cocky monkey. It was the same feeling that also was born on that day with the furry beast as she whipped it to death alongside Li Li. The feeling that made her want to dominate, conquer, and torture. The feeling that shapes most of her decisions today. To want to cause as much chaos as possible. To oppress the strong and unyielding. To seek the most optimal way of living for herself.

"Big words from an inferior creature. Submit yourself to me or face the consequences of insulting this Empress." The shaking in Jing's body stopped entirely. Her posture became straight and sturdy.

"Amusing," It chuckled. "You must have come seeking your death to talk to me in such a way. But, I won't let you die. It's been a while since I thoroughly enjoyed a human female."

"You refuse to submit to this Empress? Fine. Then die, you overgrown simian." Jing no longer hid any of her power.

Water from SCP-109 swirled around her legs like a raging vortex. She struck with a powerful kick towards its stomach. It was the first time she's ever used all her strength in a fight. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't excited to go all out for the first time. Hopefully he wouldn't die too quickly.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is where things are going to get exciting! So recently, i found out that you guys really like Jing. A lot more than i actually thought you would considering i haven't really explored much of her personality wise even though she's our main character and the character we've started the story with in over 70 something chapters.

Maybe one of these days i should do a popularity poll or something to see who are the most liked or hated.

But anyway look forward the next few chapters coming out! Feel free to comment what you guys will think will happen in this encounter. I'm a bit excited to read them, you guys always come up with interesting ideas.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	79. Live and Learn

The kick landed with such vicious force that it would tear apart any average creature. None of the opponents Jing has faced up to this point would have lived taking on this kick. Jing could see the lights in its eyes glow in surprise as it attempted to defend itself. Jing refused to let that happen. She altered the trajectory of her kick as it was already thrown! She aimed towards its neck to give a terrible blow.

"Interesting... You would put the geniuses I knew to shame with this much power in the Qi Gathering realm. It's a shame that it isn't enough to harm me." Jing's blow landed on his neck.

The shattering of a qi barrier sounded out in Jing's ears as she felt a hairy hand suddenly grab her leg. Jing's attack didn't go through, and it was blocked! The strength in his grip was unbelievable as he ripped through the violent swirling water around her legs that could slice apart magical tools with its sharpness. He tossed her across the woods with his monstrous power and Jing could barely see anything as she was sent flying so fast everything became a blur.

'Core realm beings are a lot stronger than I thought...' Jing couldn't afford to hold anything back against this creature.

She tried to stop herself by gripping the ground with water tendrils, carving long deep tears into the ground before she finally stopped. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that she could've be sent to the opposite side of the Treasured Plains if she kept going. What unreasonable power... Getting this monkey to submit to her will be worth the trouble of revealing her strength.

Just as Jing was about to rise from the ground, the spirit beast appeared in front of her. Jing's senses turned up all the way as she barely managed to avoid the kick coming towards her jaw. She flipped backwards to avoid the kick and landed back on her feet. It wasn't her style to stay on the defensive. She fiercely counterattacked after getting up and let loose a flurry of lightning fast kicks. He struck with a mighty punch that took 20-30 of her kicks to match in power.

"What a vulgar animal. Only brute force and you're proud of such a thing?" Jing spoke as the two continued to clash against each other.

Jing pushed herself to kick as fast as she could. If an outsider were to see this fight, it would look as if Jing had hundreds of legs kicking out in unison right now against the monkey's earth-shattering fists. A Qi Gatherer being able to contend with a Core stage cultivator is only something spoke about in legends. A legendary prodigy blessed by the heavens above is how they would describe Jing right now.

As time went on, the monkey started to realize something was strange about this female Qi Gatherer. Why hasn't her strength dropped at all? Her qi was just as powerful as it was when they first started and why hasn't he seen a single bead of sweat coming out of her? Something wasn't right here. This human wasn't normal or at least, their martial arts weren't.

Jing saw her chance! The spirit beast's concentration slacked for just a second and she immediately took advantage. She wrapped herself along the arm of the monkey like a slippery snake as she made her way towards its neck. Just when she was about to lock her thighs around its head to pop it off like a cork, the simian unleashed its full qi and blew her away. This outcome didn't surprise her, it only made her understand that she would need to think of a different plan to deal with the animal.

"You are unusual for a Qi Gatherer. Have you realized that the amount of qi one can hold in the 9th stage is only determined by how much qi control they possess? Wait... Are you even at the 9th stage? Because of that stupid mask, I can't even tell what stage you are at specifically. I should destroy that and take a good look at my future woman."

"Just try it." Her mask wasn't broken. It was just that this beast was strong enough to penetrate through some of its abilities. This was important information. SCP-914's powers weren't absolute...

Jing could barely react as the monkey grabbed hold of her mask and tried to crush it with its powerful strength. She held onto its large muscular arm and repeatedly struck her feet into its stomach. The sound of her mask cracking forced her into increasing the intensity of her kicks. She sent all of her qi into her legs, creating a yellow aura around the swirling water covering her legs. The yellow aura only darkened in color as her fury increased.

"Your strength is remarkable but its futile." It shattered her mask and her identity was revealed.

"Hmph. Like what you see?" Jing's dark brown skin exposed itself to the world along with her modest figure and common face.

"It's my first time seeing a human of this color... You looked better with the mask." He replied somewhat disappointed.

"And you look better underneath my foot!" Jing used the exact moment it crushed her mask to launch a surprise attack.

She appeared above the giant monkey and with a beautiful arc of clear water following her slender leg, smashed her foot against the skull of the beast. Only to receive a punch right through her chest and a look of surprise and slight anger in his eyes.

"Look what you made me do!" He pulled his arm out of her body and looked down at her in irritation. That attack actually surprised him. If she was stronger than him, he could've taken serious damage right there.

Jing realized that she was truly outclassed. Her refinement with SCP-914 didn't make her invincible. She couldn't take on this world with SCP-914 alone. She was truly naïve to believe that the being that gifted her this system would allow her to run as freely as she wanted in this world without someone being able to stop her. Now she understood why she got that mission about not getting killed and surviving until the end. Would she also find herself like this against the persons of fate?

The way she would have to handle things will change this day going forward. Realizing her mortality and current power will allow her to grow even further. Jing thought it might be fun now that she knew that she wasn't unstoppable. There would be risks, dangers, and obstacles that could put a halt to her rise if she wasn't careful. Jing didn't mind being in the spotlight as long as there were some benefits to it. But as of right now, she still knew far too little about this world. Just this situation alone proved that her knowledge was insufficient.

'Live and learn.' She secretly pulled out a teleportation spell that would send her far away.

The Core stage was her and Li Li's limit so far. This was useful information to remember. This situation could be seen as a blessing in disguise if Jing wasn't sure that it was all just bad luck. If she faced a spirit beast that could actually use techniques to deal with her besides brute force, who knows if she could have escaped from here.

"Sneaky little..." The big monkey ripped her talisman apart before it could activate, surprising her once again.

"Did I allow you to leave woman? You shall be my slave until I find myself bored with you. Oh, and you peepers can get out of here now." It reached out with its hand and created a translucent barrier around them.

'Peepers? The elders! Have they been watching them this entire time?! Of course they have! How else would they know what took place during the Treasured Plains?!' A rare moment of panic surfaced Jing's face.

Everything that took place inside here was seen by the elders. Her identity was 100% revealed and there would be no point to hiding her true self anymore. This was truly a checkmate... To think that she wouldn't think of the elders watching their disciples' survival in this place. It was ignorant and entirely too foolish of her! Because of the system and SCP-914, she's become too cocky! Too arrogant! Jing was ashamed of herself and felt like such a fool.

The Core stage spirit beast watched in wonder and interest as Jing's fatal injury rapidly healed itself. He picked her up by her waist and hoisted her up. He then gently ran his tongue across her cheek, his hot breath awakened Jing from her thoughts. Being so thoroughly humiliated by her own failures and seeing this disgusting creature looking at her with such a lustful stare infuriated her. Jing was the type of person to always stay calm and keep her emotions in control but in this situation, it couldn't be helped if she went a little out of control. Being treated as a tool by this animal, her fury exploded.

**[Emergency mission available for host!]**

**[Escape this Core stage Wise Monkey or become its slave!]**

**[Rewards: 1 legendary ticket]**

Jing didn't even need the system to remind her. She used SCP-109 and created a massive tendril of water to drill the monkey away, only to see him slap it away with his palm and grope her behind. It was at the moment where all hope seemed lost for Jing, a familiar figure came into her vision. A figure that made relief fill her heart and her will to fight to rose even higher.

'Mom!' He cried out.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hoho, it seems everything is exploding around Jing at once. I wonder how this event will have an effect on her in the future...

Writing this chapter was exciting for me since its the first time, Jing has been outclasssed in any capacity. Instead of the one doing the dominating, She's been dominated for the first time. This chapter was mainly me focusing on writing that Jing is not invincible, Jing is not all-knowing and can know of everything and every situation, She can be caught off guard, defeated, and humiliated. To summarize, Jing isn't an all-powerful cultivator that can do anything and everything. She's only been in this world for nearly a year and until now has yet to encounter any real danger or trouble.

I plan to increase these dangerous situations and troubles for her and her followers to get into so that they can grow into real characters? I guess? I don't know.

But anyway, see you guys friday. I bet you all already know who said the last line of this chapter.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	80. A Dangerous Mother and Son Pair!

Li Li sliced across the thick neck muscles of the Wise Monkey with his talons, causing him to drop his mother. The spirit beast grabbed his throat to prevent himself from dying and tried to roar out in anger from being ambushed. But by the time he could look up, his mother already grabbed him and teleported away with a talisman. They arrived at the bottom of some lake filled with Qi Consolidation spirit beasts. The two of them didn't need air to breath so, it would be fine if they stayed under.

Li Li summoned the soul of the huge Worm Dragon to ward off the beasts from attacking them. Its gigantic size would frighten the others into not attacking. The incorporeal worm curled around them with its ethereal towers of flesh. With the spirit beasts away, Li Li used this chance to curl himself into his mother's body. She was alive, she was fine... She didn't die...

* * *

As this was all happening, Jing was receiving her reward from the system while gently petting Li Li. She was inside her mental plane. This was where she could interact with the system's menu and other functions. Jing stood in front of the gigantic spinning wheel, waiting to receive her prize. Jing was impressed by the being that created this system. Despite her refinement with SCP-914, her enhanced eyes still couldn't keep track of this wheel when it was spinning at full speed. Another point that proves that SCP-914 wasn't all powerful even when things were refined on very fine.

The wheel's pointer slowed to the point to where it was between receiving SCP-353 or gaining the Heaven-ranked sword, Immortal Blood Edge. Jing never knows what an SCP can do until she receives it from the system. So, she couldn't tell if what she was getting was good or not when it came to an SCP. If she got the sword, she would just switch it for a more interesting weapon with SCP-914's 1:1 option. Jing didn't know what abilities it held either. Jing hoped that it was something that could allow her to go back and give that impertinent monkey a lesson before fleeing and forcing him to submit when she gets stronger.

**[Host has received SCP-353!]**

Jing prepared herself for the influx of information about the SCP. The pain she felt when acquiring an SCP's abilities wasn't any less than it was when she got her first SCP. It wasn't the type of pain that could be handled by turning off the nerves that dealt with pain. It targeted something deeper inside of her. She had a feeling that it was the same place where that giant manifestation of SCP-914 was inside her.

'I might be able to work with this...' A malicious half smile slowly formed on her face.

SCP-353 was a sentient entity. This mean that she couldn't summon the being to this world and instead took control of its anomalous properties for herself. If the SCP wasn't sentient and couldn't form thoughts of its own, Jing would be able to summon the item or creature right in front of her. This SCP in particular gave her an understanding of several different things that cultivators here knew nothing about. Well, as far as Jing knew, they knew nothing about this type of stuff. But after the situation she just experienced, it was better to assume that nothing was secret or unknown. Arrogance will only lead to her downfall as it almost just did.

Jing could now take almost any infectious bacterial or viral agents within her body. She could siphon them into herself, develop them, and store them for as long as she wants. If she desires to develop them into a certain way, she will gain the symptoms of whichever disease she was trying to change. This lasts for as long as she's attempting to improve the infectious bacterial. The only limit to the diseases she can harbor is that they must be able to naturally survive within the human body.

With Jing's refinement, she was sure that her body could handle any types of symptoms. As far as she knew, she was practically immortal already. No wounds could keep her from recovering. Being stabbed through the heart, brain, ripped apart, losing all the blood in her body, none of it would keep her down for long. Jing didn't let this go to her head though. There were still plenty of ways to deal with a being like herself. She could easily be sealed within a formation for thousands of years if she wasn't careful.

'Wait. Li Li did you just talk?!' Jing suddenly remembered hearing a childish voice calling out mom before she teleported away.

'I don't know. Did I?' Li Li responded in her head.

'How are you...' Jing used her qi to sense anything different about herself or Li Li. She didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

'Our souls are connected Mom! My Auxiliary technique! I can link our souls and talk to you now!'

'Is that the only thing it can do?' Jing asked.

'I don't know.' Li Li answered innocently.

'That's fine. We can figure out how this works later but for now you can help me get a little revenge on a certain monkey.' Jing has been actively using her new ability to siphon several bacterial agents within the surrounding area.

Using her qi as an amplifier, Jing could enhance the range she was able to gather bacteria within her body. Along with improving the rate of their development and potency. She has a nice little gift to give that spirit beast before she returns at a later time to get her revenge and force it under her. After that she can work on other matters.

Jing used a talisman and reappeared in the area where she fought with the Wise Monkey. She arrived with Li Li, holding onto his feet as he flew in the air. Various ailments plagued her skin that made Jing look sickly and freakish. She immediately spotted the beast and prepared two talismans. She lit one slip a few seconds before the other to ensure her survival. Jing refused to let herself be caught off guard again because of her ignorance and arrogance.

The duo arrived directly behind the walking spirit beast and Jing palmed his back, infecting him with a progressive virus that would slowly worsen as time goes on, giving him torturous symptoms that would make suicide a preferable option than living. Of course, she made sure that the bacterial agent wasn't fatal. It wouldn't be as sweet if he died before she returns to force him underneath her foot. This might not be honorable but Jing isn't the type of person to care about something like honor when it didn't give any benefits to herself.

He attempted to swipe at her with a backhanded swing but the second talisman activated after she infected him, immediately sending her far far away. Getting away so freely almost made Jing feel like laughing with giddy.

"He he he..." It was hard for her to contain the jubilant emotions flowing through her and she laughed loudly and without restraint.

'I only see you this happy when you are hurting people.' Li Li spoke with joy, also affected by his mom's good mood.

"The next few weeks will be quite some fun now that my identity has been exposed to all the elders. The time I was using to slowly bolster my strength, influence, and forces is now gone. I suppose there won't be any reason to fake my personality or abilities either. Everything I've done during the Treasured Plains were seen by them."

'Does this mean I can breakthrough now?' Li Li asked innocently.

"There isn't a point to me purposely suppressing my realm either now." Jing's stage started to rapidly rise and breakthrough the ranks.

Qi Gathering 5!

Qi Gathering 6!

Qi Gathering 7!

Qi Gathering 8!

And it came to a slow eventual halt once she broke into the 9th stage. This was because of the words she remembered from the Wise Monkey. The amount of qi one can hold in the 9th stage is only determined by how much qi control they possess. Jing figured that this meant that hypothetically, a cultivator could have a nearly endless supply of qi if their talent in qi control is good enough before breaking into the Qi Consolidation realm. She would have to share this information with her followers. Jing sent a message through the special message talisman she gave them all and let them know.

Li Li followed in her steps and also broke through. He didn't rise as rapidly as Jing did though. He just broke past the barrier keeping him from the Qi Consolidation realm and stayed at the first stage. Jing guessed that he must have felt stifled being forced to stay at the 9th stage so long. It probably wasn't in a spirit beast's nature to restrain themselves.

'Much better!' He exclaimed.

"Sorry I had you limit yourself for so long. I didn't know you felt uncomfortable about it." She said to him.

'It's okay Mom. I don't mind doing hard things for you! I'm not a baby anymore, I can handle tough things!' He told her.

A rare genuine smile came from Jing.

"I'm proud of you." She hugged him.

After their warm embrace, Jing was about to take out her special talisman and get in contact with her followers but sensed a familiar qi presence nearby. She looked at Li Li for clarification and he also recognized this qi.

'Annoying Girl.' He said.

"Wenling?" Jing saw that her body was covered in blood and she was using her glaive as a walking stick to keep herself up.

Wenling looked up at Jing and fiercely rubbed her eyes.

"It's... really... you... You're alive..." Those were the last words she spoke before falling unconscious on the ground.

Jing slowly walked over to her with an indescribable look on her face.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I feel like you guys will really like this chapter because of everything that took place. Jing gaining a new SCP, some interaction with the System, Jing's realization of some of her flaws, giving some payback to that damn monkey, Jing's reaction now that her identity has been exposed, and etc.

Leave some comments on your thoughts on this chapter andddd

What do you think is in store for little Wenling?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	81. Chatty Elders

"This disciple is quite talented... Don't you think?"

"Being able to slaughter so many spirit beasts ahead of their level. Very talented. Who are they?"

"I can't tell with that concealing treasure they have on. But whoever they are, I'm interested in finding out who trained them."

"A concealing treasure that can work on cultivators at our stage. Their background must not be simple."

"A Qi Gatherer that can slaughter beasts at the Qi Consolidation stage and Core Preparation stage like insects. We've got a real monster on our hands, don't we?"

"The upcoming Meeting of Great Talents won't be much of a problem now."

"This generation of disciples could be said to be the greatest so far."

"The Head Elder's disciples along with a few other talents... I can't see our sect losing at the Meeting."

"And with the Grand Tournament being prepared in a couple months, we might even be able find even more hidden talents."

"It's a shame that I can't tell if the disciple is a boy or girl but seeing the way they fight makes me wonder just where they came from."

"A fighting style utilizing kicks as the main way of attacking and defending. It's definitely a fighting style that didn't come from our library."

"As far as I know, it's the only bare-handed martial arts that focuses on kicks instead of fists or the entire body."

"Their background is definitely not simple."

"Is that a Wise Monkey they just encountered?"

"Oh dear..."

"We might lose one of our greatest talents due to horrible luck! This is a complete disaster!

"I could've made them into one of our greatest disciples!"

"You?! I could've made them into the next sect leader!"

"Both of you are going senile if you think you could teach a talent on their level. They need a real teacher to properly hone their techniques and skills, like me."

"You dirty bitch."

"You fucking slut."

"You two geezers want to die!?" The female elder threatened.

"Now now, you three know the rules. No fighting or all of you will be sent to the Disciplinary Head Elder."

A collective shiver of terror ran through their bodies as they dropped their fighting stances.

"Besides, can either of you even tell what this disciple specializes in?"

"Combat."

"Killing."

"Fighting." They all answered simultaneously.

"Your thoughts are too simple. While a cultivator's ability to defend themselves is important, very few made it to the top with that alone. It is necessary for most people to specialize in more than one area."

"If you're untalented trash maybe."

"The truly strong can cover their weaknesses with enough talent and training."

"That's funny coming from an old foggy like you. I never seen you train once since becoming an elder!"

"Oh yeah? You keep talking. I can shut those fat flapping lips of yours real quick."

"The Treasured Plains always brings the worst out of us elders. We're all adults here, right? Let's not start a meaningless brawl over nothing."

"This disciple... is a little crazy, aren't they?" The elders looked down on the Treasured Plains.

Able to oversee almost any area they wished, most elders looked down on the mysterious disciple trying to fight against a Core stage beast with intelligence. A disciple in the Qi Gathering realm stood their ground against a beast superior to them. It was a scene unbelievable to one's eyes! The number of disciples that are capable of just simply withstanding a Core stage practitioner's qi can be counted on one hand!

"They have to become my disciple! Look at them go!"

"Those kicks are unbelievable! So fast but also so powerful!"

"How is their body able to keep up with a spirit beast in the Core stage?!"

"They're no doubt a legendary prodigy."

"If they somehow don't die here, the Golden Serpent Sect will definitely enter a new age in the near future."

"No one will be able to match our might with a talent like this!"

"None of you bastards better think of assassinating them either! Your shitty disciples don't stand a chance against their godly talent!" A few envious elders spat in jealously. Why couldn't their disciples have legendary talent like this?

"If any elder attempts to kill this disciple, I will personally grind your soul into nothingness." The sect leader threatened.

"Yes, Leader!" Every elder responded back in fear and respect of their great power.

"But what if a mishap were to happen between fellow disciples?" Someone had the balls to ask.

"Leave the younger generation to fight their own battles. Just none of you old bastards better get involved personally." The sect leader's right-hand man responded.

"Yes, Supreme Commander!"

After the sect leader personally responded to the plight of this single disciple, even more elders started watching their hopeless battle. The moment they were all waiting for was coming near. That spirit tool that hide certain things about them was about to break! They would see just exactly who this disciple was. Their anticipation and excitement made most of them unable to sit calmly. When it was finally destroyed, some lesser elders even hooted and hollered in joy.

"Did we have a disciple like this...?" The brown skin and young face didn't ring any bells.

"You'd think we'd be able to recognize a disciple like this."

"I'm pretty sure she's the only disciple in the sect with that skin color..."

"No. There are some disciples that are tan but not that dark..."

"It's completely natural. She was born with that skin."

"How horrible... To be born as a girl with black skin..."

"Her family must be devastated."

"She was probably cursed in her last life."

"Have you blind foggies gone senile? What does it matter what someone looks like! Look at her skills, her quick mind, and her strong personality! That is what a true cultivator needs. Things like outer appearance is only superficial and unimportant in the grand scheme of things." A female elder spoke, making most of the men silent.

"Oi, why can't I see her anymore?" Someone changed the subject.

"What's going on? What did that monkey do?"

"He created a barrier that blocks our vision. What he plans to do to her must be something he doesn't want seen."

"Hah... What a terrible fate for a girl so gifted. If only we could intervene..."

"Not even the sect leader could enter into the Treasured Plains after it has been closed. We can only hope for the smallest of chance that she somehow makes it out alive."

"Heavens please bless our sect and somehow find a way to save that disciple, even if she's a little unpleasant to look at."

There were a few elders that didn't take kindly to the appearance of the sudden talented disciple that appeared out of nowhere. They hoped that the young girl would perish and never reappear again. But there was an even smaller amount of elders that prepared for this impossibility. On the off chance that she does somehow survive, they need to prepare themselves and their disciples to take care of this threat. The sect leader's words sent these cautious elders into a panic. It must be known that the sect leader rarely complimented anyone. Even their sole disciple was only above average in talent to them.

If things continued to go the way they were going and the girl lived, it was a high possibility that she would take over as sect leader. It would be difficult to kill the girl because of the Supreme Commander's words but they noticed the loophole in his words. They didn't need to move a finger themselves but instead have their disciples kill the girl for them. The disciples die all the time in battles with one another. The Sect Leader and Supreme Commander couldn't fault them if she failed to survive in a battle with her fellow peers.

There was only one elder in particular who recognized the young girl. It was Elder Lang, Jing's array teacher. His surprise at seeing Jing was not small at all! He was more likely to believe the girl down there was her twin or doppelganger than believe the sweet, kind, and inquisitive young girl he's taught for the past few months was actually there. But that furry bag was without a doubt Jing's. It was where she stored all her talisman slips, spells, and other equipment that a spellmaster would need. He had a feeling it was a spirit tool that worked similar to a storage ring as the bag seemed pretty small to carry so much stuff. But seeing the girl down there, he wouldn't be surprise if it really was a spirit tool. The strength she's showing is unnatural.

It was like looking at a completely different person! The cold and fierce personality shift, the lack of restraint in her blows, the complete absence of mercy and thoughtfulness. It resembled nothing of the bright disciple he taught. She would never strike with such lethal intent and have such a terrifying look on her face. Elder Lang was in total disbelief and shock.

"I was teaching a monster all along..."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sort of half chapter, i'd consider. I typed this as chapter 80.5 in my notes because it kind of cuts away from the action and suspense for a moment. At such good timing too because last chapter Wenling showed up and you guys have no idea what Jing has planned for her! I figured i'd add this little break here because i think it would fit nicely in the story and add a little bit development or character to the current elders of the Golden Serpent Sect.

Anyway, besides that i will officially begin college again starting today so, things might get a little wonky every now and then depending on how much work i'll have to do this year. I still plan to continue to make chapters for this story during my new semester but i must let you know that if things get a bit hectic, i will put this on hold for a little while to focus on my studies.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	82. Jing and Wenling (18)

Wenling shot up from her sleep. She expected her body to react with sharp pain but instead felt completely fine. Did someone heal her in her sleep or did she just awaken her long-lost bloodline?

"So, you're awake." That voice! It really wasn't a dream!

"Jing!" Wenling ran over to her apprentice and hugged her with all her strength.

Her breasts smothered Jing's face but she was too happy to notice! The hug was extra-long in comparison to a normal hug, Wenling's joy at seeing Jing alive again wasn't something that could be remedied with a short 3 or 4 second hug.

"You're really alive... I thought you died back there... Everyone did. No one believed that you were still alive but I still believed that you were. And here you are... Alive..." Tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Yes. I should be dead. No normal cultivator can survive a wound like that even with the most expensive recovery pills." Jing replied calmly.

"I don't even care how you survived. I'm just so glad you're alive..." Wenling kept her hold around Jing's modest body.

It was at this point things started to become a bit strange. Jing hugged her back. The young brown girl's hands found themselves gripping Wenling's bottom with surprising force. Her surprise at being touched in such a way, made her give a surprising squeak. One that was similar to Jing's frequent squeaks.

"That was cute." Jing licked her lips as if she was staring at a juicy meal. Wenling was starting to get a bit flustered but her body wasn't rejecting this situation.

"Jing... Are you oka-" Her lips were silenced by Jing's own.

'Was this another dream? This wasn't like Jing at all. And why didn't I want to resist? Did I always feel this way about my apprentice? Or have my urges just piled up since it has been such a long time?' Wenling's questions didn't find an answer anytime soon.

The way Jing's hands felt up her behind while she kissed her so passionately. Wenling's thoughts were fleeting and her body was heating up. She thought, "Maybe this dream wasn't so bad..." and let herself fully give in to the situation. Even with her being taller than Jing, Jing was the one taking the lead.

"Mmpm!?" A moist pink tongue happily found its way past Wenling's lips.

Wenling's own tongue had no choice but to get itself tangled around this sudden guest. Introducing the inside of its home without a moment to prepare. The indecent symphony of their tongues and Wenling's muffled moans performed without restraint in the empty forest. During their intense session, Jing suddenly parted her lips from Wenling and pushed her against a tree. Wenling's legs were weak and she couldn't keep her legs from shaking and that's when Jing attacked.

Jing's pressed her demanding lips up against Wenling's once again, giving her little time to rest or think. It wasn't until she felt a hot hand entering into her panties that she came back to her senses! The incredible skill of Jing's kissing was enough to send her into a daze. If she went even further, Wenling wasn't sure that she would be right in the mind anymore.

This just had to be a dream. Her protégé wouldn't be acting like this otherwise! Dream Jing didn't seem to care about her sensitive state at all.

"Ahh!" Her hand rubbed the entrance of her sacred garden, startling Wenling.

She didn't allow her to get a single break! While gently massaging her lower lips, she was still kissing her! She needed to breathe soon! The sparks of pleasure going through her body made her forget that simple fact as Jing increased her hand's speed. Wenling wanted to yell at her to stop. To give her a few seconds to rest. A break! Anything besides this onslaught of non-stop pleasure, but Dream Jing was a commanding partner who didn't accept something like a break. Was she planning on breaking her physically and mentally instead?

"I'm coming...! I'm coming! Ahn!" Wenling broke away from Jing's aggressive lips and finally managed to speak.

Dream Jing took that as the signal to go even faster, sending Wenling's mind and body into a mess. She let out a scream in a voice she's never heard herself make before. Her legs buckled and shook with such intensity that she fell on her butt, unable to keep herself standing anymore. The previous quiet little brown girl from before now looked at her with a predatory gaze. A gaze that said they weren't even close to finish just yet.

"Please no more..." She begged with her panties completely drenched. Her legs have yet to stop twitching.

"The Wenling I know, wouldn't give up so easily." Dream Jing spoke with an amused smile.

"I know... I know... but please... Just this time?"

"She also wasn't so selfish." Jing slowly undressed herself and stood over Wenling in her surprisingly mature black panties.

"Now it's your turn to please me. And if I'm satisfied enough, you might be rewarded with a small break." Wenling could see a small damp spot in Jing's underwear.

She already knew what Jing was suggesting. It would be her first time doing this to anyone and she was slightly nervous that she wouldn't be able to fulfil Jing's hopes. Her beautiful hazel skin looked far more amazing up close. Wenling gave small little kisses going up Dream Jing's thighs.

"Mhm. Good start." Jing complimented her.

The inexperienced commander parted Jing's panties to the side and continued her teasing kisses on Jing's flower. She looked up and met Jing's eyes staring back at her. She was waiting with that look on her face again. She was enjoying seeing her like this. Nervous, unexperienced, and needing guidance.

Wenling gently licked the smooth canvas between Jing's legs. The sweet nectar dripping from her feminine center was like divine honey on Wenling's tongue. She ran her tongue across the outer petals of Jing's flower as if to compliment the dish before digging in to the main course. She was hesitant to admit that she was nervous about what the taste of another woman would be but she was glad that it was better than what she expected.

"Mhm... That's good... But enough playing around Wenling." Dream Jing placed her hand on the back of Wenling's head and tenderly guided it closer.

Wenling's wet tongue did as Jing wanted. Albeit, far more clumsily and unexperienced than maybe what Jing expected. It was her first time doing this sort of thing after all. But Jing didn't look dissatisfied with her performance so far. The subtle grinding from Jing pushed her tongue deeper inside her.

"Haah.. Mhmm... Ahh..." Jing's moans reached her ears. That meant she was doing well right?

"Focus on That more." Jing commanded.

Wenling felt compelled to listen to her to her demand despite wondering about her protégé. She didn't understand why her apprentice was unlike her usual self. The shy, cute, sometimes clumsy, selfless, and kind person she was wasn't present here. Did something happen to her after she fell off the cliff?

"Focus!" Jing's breathing was uneven but her words were demanding. Was she close?

Wenling's tongue embraced Jing's clit. She gave her exactly what she asked and could see Jing's leg's quivering increase in frequency. Jing started to rub her vagina on Wenling's face a bit faster. Jing's inner juices leaked down Wenling's chin. She had trouble licking all of it up. Then all of a sudden, Jing screamed as she pushed Wenling's face into her pussy as she came all over her face. Seeing her face like that caused another feeling to arise from Jing, making her want to kiss the inexperienced girl.

And she did but a bit gentler compared to the ones from earlier.

* * *

"That wasn't half bad." Jing complimented as she put her robes back on.

'Was it over?' Wenling thought. 'Could she wake up now?'

"You and I both know this wasn't a dream. Quit acting foolish and get yourself together." Jing tossed her a new pair of clothes to wear and a handkerchief.

Wenling's current attire was quite messy and improper. Her large breasts and erect nipples were bare for anyone to see, a wide visible stain was present on the lower part of her robes, and her face was wet with Jing's clear fluid. If anyone saw her like this, it would definitely increase the number of rumors about her being a slut. She wiped her face clean and looked at Jing before touching her new clothes.

"Cute." Jing could tell she was nervous about getting completely nude in front of her. Even after what they just did.

She turned around for her previous leader, waiting for her to get dressed. A few seconds later, she was finished and staring at Jing with a complicated look in her eyes.

"Yes, I'm still the same Jing you knew. Now grab your stuff and follow me. Our time in this place isn't infinite." Jing walked off without waiting for Wenling to grab her glaive and other items she brought along.

Wenling quickly went to get her stuff and followed after Jing.

"What happened to you...?" Wenling asked.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Now this was a uhh. chapter wasn't it? My first time writing a detailed 18+ chapter like this and it was a bit hard to write as i'm not a woman nor do i know how women feel during situations like this. But i did the best i could with a little research thanks to commentor: royaldarknes. I probably should've done a bit more search on stuff like this but i feel like i did a fine job for my first time.

Tell me what you liked, disliked, and think i could improve on when it comes to chapter like these for future reference. As a beginner writer, i do want to continually improve in my writing as time goes on and not stay stagnant. I do plan to make stories in the future as an author as a side job, if i can and get good enough at this writing thing.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	83. She's Not A Mindless Ant

"I got knocked off a cliff." Jing answered simply.

"But what about afterwards? How are you alive right now?" Wenling wanted to know.

"I refused to die. That's all you need to know." This caused Wenling to be silent for several seconds.

"Why are you so different...?" She got to the big question she had.

"The Jing you knew is dead. After what I went through, I realized there was no point to me being like that anymore." Jing answered her.

"I don't really understand but, I'm just glad you're alive..." It seems Wenling really cared about her safety.

Jing decided to check on her System's Allies tab to see if Wenling was added to her group of followers. Bing, Wan Qing, Ying, Hu Tao, and Lei Zhi were there along with a newly added Wenling...

**[Name: Xiao ****Wenling]**

**[Occupation: Bandit]**

**[Techniques: Siren's Voice, Draconic Spear Techniques, Dragon's Focus, Legs of the Quick Newt, Body of the Burning Dragon]**

**[Cultivation Method: Overwhelming Dragon's Fury]**

**[Loyalty: 85% (Isn't quite sure what happened to you after falling down that cliff but still cares a great deal about you. Has a small crush on you after what happened.)**

Seeing Wenling's info made Jing think about a few things. The first thing was her name was Little Wenling. Meaning, her background must be poor. The second thing was that being a bandit was an occupation apparently. But then again Martial Artist was an occupation as well based on Bing's, Ying's, and Wan Qing's occupations. What classified as an occupation didn't need to be something everyone would classify as a job. Lei Zhi's occupation was a Fisherman and Hu Tao's occupation was Berserker.

Jing was still unsure how the system identified who were her allies and who weren't. The only reason she was confused on this was because Li Li was not listed as one of her allies. Did the system not consider him an ally because he was an animal? For its loose judgement with occupations, she'd expect it would be the same in judging allies, but it seems not.

"Where are we headed?" Wenling asked.

"To the Great Tower." Jing responded.

"It'll take us days to get there at this pace, don't you think?"

'Mom, why are we walking? We could just teleport there with a talisman.' Li Li brought up as he came flying from the sky. Jing told him to go eat breakfast to have her alone time with Wenling.

"Hmm. I suppose you're right." Jing quickly threw out 4 movement talismans around them. "Let's go then." A bright white flash erupted from the slips and soon they disappeared.

* * *

Wan Qing stared at her target from a distance. The man Jing wanted her to kill and in return she would be given valuable cultivation resources. As far as she could tell, he seemed like an average person. More talented than the rest but nothing that would warrant him needing to be killed. Despite pledging her life to Jing, that didn't mean she wouldn't question her decisions or requests. She was not a mindless ant that would follow every order from the Queen.

She shook her head. The rewards for killing him were too great to hesitate on. She just needed to realize that she was doing this to strengthen herself, not simply because Jing ordered it. Wan didn't have a problem with killing the man, the issue she was struggling with was deciding for who should she kill this man for. The fact that Jing ordered for his death meant that he posed a problem towards her now or in the future. She also believed in getting rid of those that stood in her way.

She wouldn't have made it this far in life without doing so. A person like her, misunderstood by the world, can't get by in this world by being kind and merciful. This isn't the type of world where you can hope that everyone will understand you with words. It's the type where you have to force those weaker than you to accept you. Which is only possible with overwhelming force and brutality. Wan Qing was on her path right now to accomplish that goal.

"If he needs someone to blame, then he can only blame himself for getting on Jing's bad side somehow..." Wan gave an excuse as she headed straight towards Wang Yong.

Wang Yong was the 10th ranked disciple in the Inner Court. He was at the 6th stage of the Qi Consolidation stage like her. Skilled in formations and swordplay. Besides being the grandson of an elder directly under Head Elder Chang, that was all she knew of him. A simple young man with a positive future.

"I've come to kill you Wang Yong." Wan Qing greeted with Ni Xong behind her.

"Kill me? What kind of joke are you playing?" He responded confused.

Ah this was rather strange. If someone was after your life, they would surely not greet you and let you know of their intentions. This whole situation was just so abnormal for Wan, that she wasn't sure how to proceed either. Her pride wouldn't allow her to sneak attack a man she had no grievances with. Neither would she be satisfied with such a victory.

"Someone has placed a bounty on your head. I've come to collect it." She suddenly thought.

"Hmph. Fine, I'll humor you, little bounty hunter. Follow me." He seemed confident in his skills even after sensing her cultivation stage. He also took several glances at her chest during his response.

Wan followed behind him to a secluded location outside of the city. The Resting Area was a giant city that resembled great cities outside the Treasured Plains. If they were caught fighting inside the city, the city's guards would throw them in prison for a certain amount of time depending on their crime and how much damage they caused to the city. Wan only figured this out with Bing and Lei Zhi after seeing cultivators from the previous floors with past grievances with one another trying to kill each other after reuniting.

The two even tried to get her to promise not to cause any trouble inside the city after seeing the powerful strength of the city guards. She refused to respond to them and only snorted. Who did they take her for? Hu Tao or Ying? She was mature enough to control herself in a place like this. A place where danger could lurk at every street corner. Wan didn't believe the old man and fatty would find themself in any trouble with their passive natures. Spending a few floors with the two made Wan understand them a bit more. Enough to realize that they would never bother anyone unless they were bothered first and even then they'd still try to avoid danger by running away.

She split from Bing and Lei Zhi once she saw Wang Yong. Wan didn't feel like being the only one of the group to fail at her task given by Jing. It wouldn't be good for impressions and she would feel slightly humiliated being the only one to fail despite having the highest cultivation stage. It would be like saying that she was the worst out of all of them. Wan's pride and talent refused to accept an outcome like that.

"This place is fine. Alright, Miss Bounty Hunter, show me what you got." He grinned, obviously not taking this seriously. He hasn't once looked into her eyes, only her chest.

He chose an open grassy plain, similar to the one she fought Hu Tao in. Wan Qing spread a few of her butterflies on the way here to check if this was a trap. So far, her butterflies detected no one nearby. He might actually believe in his strength enough to believe that he could deal with her. If so, this was good for her. A simple battle would be great.

"You don't wish to write a will before we fight? To any loved ones on the outside?" Wan asked in her feminine voice.

"I should be asking you that Miss Bounty Hunter. Becoming a Bounty Hunter with your appearance is such a waste." He clicked his tongue. "Instead, why don't you become my personal bedwarmer? I can guarantee good pay. My grandpa and I are well off." He suggested.

"You're not my type." Wan Qing looked at him as if he was an insect.

"What a cold glare. A look like that ruins your beauty. You should smile instead. Especially if you're after my life. A beauty like you smiling at me as I drift off into an everlasting sleep, it would be heavenly."

"I can see why a bounty is out on your head now." Wan grabbed her shut giant fan and pointed it at Yong.

"My flirting skills often get me in trouble with beautiful ladies." He sighed as if it was a great curse brought upon by the heavens.

"I'm doing you a favor by shutting you up then." She charged towards Yong who has yet to even unsheathed his sword.

"You wouldn't be the first to say so," Wan's fan was blocked by a barrier made by a talisman. "Nor the last." He threw a talisman on the ground in front of her.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Fun fact: Wan Qing's weaponry was inspired by Temari from Naruto. The special ability of her fan with the strange butterflies were thought of solely by me though.

Remember to check out the Glossary here book/11680669705480205/47610078454403860 if you forgot any characters and possibly even learn something new about certain characters that you might not have known before.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	84. Wan Qing vs Wang Yong!

It lit up with a bright light as a powerful explosion came from it, forcing Wan to immediately jump back or suffer damage from the spell. Just as she moved away, he charged forward with his sword, hitting his blade against her closed fan. Wan only looked at him with disinterest. He sliced with quick attacks that were beginning to be too much for her to handle with her fan closed. She was on the defensive now as he held nothing back in his sword strikes. Wan could still tell he was just playing around. This couldn't be his full strength as the 10th ranker in the Inner Court.

Wan used her auxiliary martial art, Butterfly's Grace, and created 4 small butterfly wings out of her back. She used these insect wings to gain some distance from Yong but he chased after her like a love-sick puppy. Not to mention the fact that he's been doing nothing but staring at her chest since she's met him. It was actually starting to piss her off. She's never felt like this before either. Maybe this feminine body made by her Illusionary Urn was more powerful than she thought.

And that was when Yong sliced her head off.

"Tch. She was good eye candy while she lasted. I should've aimed to pierce her heart instead of chopping her head off. Then I could've got some good use out of the body." He spat on the ground in regret.

Since her illusion died, now was the perfect time to attack. He could only blame himself for being so unaware. Wan opened up her fan and swung it towards Yong's defenseless back. A wind blast similar to a shot from a cannon exploded from her fan. She also flicked a few butterflies around herself to keep watch for any suspicious activities. They would be helpful in preventing surprise attacks as they could communicate with her mentally and let her know of everything they see.

Yong's ears pricked at the sound of the sudden wind. He turned and nearly screamed his heart out of his chest seeing the powerful attack coming towards him.

"What the hell is this!?" He shouted.

The young cultivator attempted to use a talisman slip to protect him from the incoming attack. Wan's simple wind blast smashed through his defensive amulet's barrier and cracked the second one. Wan noticed that he had more than 3 barriers protecting him during her attack. He wasn't kidding when he said that he was rich. Defensive treasures and amulets meant for protecting one's life were not cheap in the slightest. The makers or finders of these types of treasures understood just how valuable they were. That's why they were always at a high price.

Some people say you can't put a price on human life. Yong's grandpa must follow that saying with all his heart considering how many barriers Wan saw activate when her attack hit. That made her start to think about after she kills him. What if his grandpa comes after her? Even with her new fan, she doubted that she would be strong enough to deal with an elder directly under one of the Head Elders. Would Jing be able to protect her from the rage of an elder?

"How dare you!?" He pointed his finger at her, greatly upset. "Do you know who I am?! Do you know who my grandfather is?!" Spittle flew from his mouth.

Wan understood exactly who his grandfather was before she chose to kill him. She was taking a large risk by doing this task but she trusted Jing would be able to take care of the aftermath. She didn't entirely trust Jing but she did trust her enough know that she wouldn't give her this task just to place her in danger. It wouldn't make any sense.

"Are those your final words?" Wan Qing asked.

"You... You... You dare!? A lowly woman like you think you can kill me?!" He slapped several talisman around the blade of his sword.

Wan slowly floated into the air. She didn't need to humor this fool by engaging him in close combat with her fan. She released several wind blasts from the sky down on Yong. He ran for his life to avoid them while getting closer to her. This reminded Wan of her fight with Hu Tao at the start of the Treasured Plains but unlike Hu Tao, this idiot wasn't hiding his intention at all. She could clearly see how he planned to used that sword empowered by those talismans to skewer right through her.

She flew even higher into the air as she performed a small dance with her fan. This 'dance' was actually a technique from her fan martial art's manual. The manual was titled Emperor Tito's Fanmanship. Wan couldn't tell the ranking of this martial art but she knew that it had to be earth-rank or higher. She was also surprised there was a martial art on fans in the first place. Not even normal mortals used fans for combat. She wouldn't be surprised to know if she was the only cultivator to use fans but that would be wrong to think because someone talented in fan wielding had to create the manual.

This specific technique was called Gathering of the Winds, it would allow her to sweep the air around her into any form she wants. Yong should be seeing a gigantic butterfly forming above her head right now. She didn't believe his defensive treasures could save him from an attack like this and if it did, she could just send another attack similar to this one. Gathering of the Winds isn't an attack that requires much qi to perform just precise qi control. Wan Qing has to actively shape the winds into the form she wants through her special dance. The special dance was required if she wanted to keep the technique formed. The only downside was the more complicated the form, the longer the dance is needed to conjure that shape. Leaving her completely open to certain attacks.

The butterfly's general form isn't difficult considering she's around them 24/7. It wasn't too farfetched to say she's become one with them. Bonded with the butterflies that make up her giant fan, especially after that illusion formation where they helped try to save her. Wan would describe it as the bond shared between a Beast Master and their beast.

"Impossible...!" The giant butterfly slowly soared down towards Yong.

In his panic, he placed down four talisman around himself and created a formation around himself. He laughed to himself inside the defensive formation and Wan continued to hover in the sky with her wings. Just in case he does survive, she would need to prepare another attack to kill him with. Defensive formations were usually unbreakable among those in the same stage. But Wan doubted this one would be able to withstand her attack. It was just a feeling she had, that's all.

The giant butterfly descended upon the tiny blue barrier like an meteorite crashing upon the Earth. It immediately shattered upon first contact with the insect, causing Yong to scream in fright. The large insect made of wind and qi then slowly crushed Yong into the ground. It continued to fly deeper down into the earth, leaving a great imprint behind of a butterfly. Wan could see several barriers shattering once the wind butterfly started lowering into the ground.

"I guess I better take some proof that he's dead. Hopefully some part of him is still recognizable." Wan Qing messaged everyone with the special talisman given by Jing that she's accomplished her task. Everyone else did it, so she did it too.

She floated down to the insect-shaped crater and saw Yong's mangled and crushed corpse. It was a complete mess and absolutely disgusting. However, that didn't stop her from grabbing his storage ring for herself. He probably had something in here that would identify him. If not, oh well. She just got herself an incredibly valuable storage ring without paying a thing for it. Ni Xong came running out of the bushes from far away towards her after she finished her fight.

'This little useless bear...' His cowardly nature hasn't lessened at all. The only thing that's changed about him is his strength.

"Rawr?" He looked up at her.

"Just looking at you makes me upset." She sighed. "Show me your progress." She ordered.

"Roah!" The little cub stood in an upright stance with his right foot leading forward.

The gauntlets were giant for his small size and seemed to grow along with him somehow, another mystery added to her savior. Wan shook her head to get off her mind off that subject and focused on Ni Xong. He let off super quick punches one after the other with his giant golden gauntlets. Ni Xong let off a rapid round of punches so fast that it looked like he had more than one pair of fists! A barrage of ultra-fast attacks!

"Tch. Good enough." She couldn't release her frustration about him when he was diligently training in a satisfactory manner.

* * *

"What an enjoyable place this is..." Lei Zhi said as he sipped on his drink.

"I agree. We haven't run into any people that want to fight us yet. Back home, you can't even step out your house without someone trying to pick a fight with you or insulting you." Bing agreed.

"It's a shame we have to leave so soon. I would like to enjoy this type of atmosphere more often." Lei Zhi said.

"This type of peace would definitely be appreciated. Something like this is impossible at the Golden Serpent Sect." Bing supported.

"Until we help Jing change things for the better."

"How long do you think that's going to take?"

"Heh. You're asking the wrong person Bing. Do you know how many years I've been at the Qi Gathering stage?" Lei Zhi laughed.

"You're progressing pretty well now in my opinion. It won't be long till we're all out of the Qi Gathering stage."

"And then we can go to the Inner Court and get caught up in even more situations." He laughed some more.

"That tends to happen with allies like ours added along with Jing's tasks." Bing smiled.

"It might be my first time saying this but I'm actually excited for the future. I can actually see myself going further than I ever have before. See myself actually making a difference with the cultivators in the world."

"By being kind to them?"

"No. I'm not a naïve old man, Bing. I know that just being kind and forgiving won't be enough to change the views of what a cultivator should be. There is one rule in this world that has yet to be broken. Might makes right. If my might is stronger than the rest, it'll be hard for them to refuse my views on how an ideal cultivator should be. If need be, I'll force mercy and kindness on everyone that refuses to adhere to such a view."

"I must apologize to you Lei. I actually did think you were going to be kind to everyone you meet and spare them no matter what actions or crimes they do against you."

"Oh, heavens no!" Lei Zhi chuckled. "There's a fine line between being human and being a monster. Those who commit inhuman actions don't deserve the same treatments as humans." A surprising amount of killing intent leaked from Lei.

Bing was shocked when he felt the dangerous aura coming out of him. This was the first time he ever felt something like this from him. And they've been through several life or death situations together. Some with people trying to kill them, others with animals trying to kill them. And until now, he's never felt a hint of killing intent coming from him. Bing would be sure to pray for whoever manages to get on the bad side of Lei.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Remember to check out the Glossary here  book/11680669705480205/47610078454403860 if you forgot any characters and possibly even learn something new about certain characters that you might not have known before.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	85. The 11th Floor

"I'm done. Let's get ready to move to the next floor." Wan Qing spoke, as she arrived into the small café.

"Welcome back Qing. Would you like a drink before we go? They have a nice selection of beverages here." Lei Zhi offered.

Xiurong waved her claw up and down in agreement. She had a small bowl just for her to drink tea from. Quon was rather large for this small establishment so Lei Zhi had to place him inside a Capture Bead. Quon couldn't shrink or grow his body like Xiurong could. Lei guessed that she was special among aquatic spirit beasts. She was the only animal who could grow or shrink her size out of all the beasts he's pulled from his fishing rod.

A Capture Bead is formed by placing the Capturing spell on a beast and sending it into a tiny marble. If the animal is particularly strong enough, it can easily escape the Capture Bead. That's why it was recommended for those attempting to capture beasts to sufficiently weaken it before trying to capture it or it would break free and destroy the bead.

"You two don't seem to be in any hurry to increase your strength." Wan said displeased by their leisure attitudes.

"Heh heh... You can't just train all the time. Some rest is needed." Bing was in the middle of stuffing dumplings into his mouth.

"Ugh..." She responded with disgust. "Hurry up and finish. I'll be waiting outside." Ni Xong looked at the large number of dumplings on Bing's plate with a yearning in his stomach.

"Come on!" Wan Qing walked outside of the small shop with Ni Xong following behind her sadly.

"She's so young but still doesn't know how to properly relax. It's saddening to see the older generation pushing the younger ones into such a brutal mindset." Lei Zhi softly spoke.

"Well, that's kind of the world we live in. A brutal one." Bing responded casually.

"That's even sadder."

"I agree. I would love to live a carefree life with no worries of suddenly dying because I got on the bad side of someone stronger than me. Maybe one day we can change that." Bing shared, just sharing how he felt without any thought.

He didn't honestly believe the Empress would be capable of changing the world. Realistically, he only believed she would be capable of taking over the sect and that was already thinking very highly of her. The world is a large place. The amount of power, influence, and numbers they would need to affect the world is so unbelievably high Bing felt it was more realistic to imagine himself reaching the True Immortal realm. Someone like him with average or below average talent reaching that stage would require countless resources and godlike luck.

"Alright. I'm finished." Bing ate his 3rd large bowl of dumplings and left 3 spirit stones as payment.

"This place was rather nice. I'll leave them something extra for having such a peaceful atmosphere." Lei Zhi paid 2 spirit stones instead of 1 for his tea.

The two left the café and met with Wan Qing outside. They walked together to the Warp Point that would send them to the 11th floor. As they were walking, Bing snuck Ni Xong a dumpling from his pocket when Qing wasn't looking. He chuckled seeing the wide smile on the panda cub's face. He placed his finger to his lips, telling the small panda that it was their secret. Bing saw how he looked at his bowl of dumplings inside the shop and figured it wouldn't hurt to give the little guy just one.

Near the Warp Point, the group saw several other cultivators waiting around. They figured it must be another floor that requires a certain number of people to start before it begins. A giant hourglass that was almost empty at the top stood in the middle of the Warp Point. On that hourglass were the numbers 950/1000.

"What happens if we don't have enough people?" Bing asked.

"That counter is telling the max limit, not the required limit." Qing explained.

"Does that affect the floor's difficulty?" Lei wondered.

"Sometimes. In some floors, more people can make it easier to survive. In others, less people can greatly increase the chances of dying."

"Do you know what this floor is going to be?" Bing wanted to try and think of strategies before they went to the 11th floor.

"No. I never went past the 10th floor. I was a Qi Gatherer like you two the last time the Treasured Plains opened. Back then, I barely survived the 10th floor. I refused to go to the next floor out of fear of for my life." Qing honestly shared.

"Should we be going with you then?" Bing asked worried about his own safety.

"You have nothing to worry about. Although I hate to admit it, you two are far stronger than I was at your stage. Probably the strongest among your individual stages." Qing gave a rare compliment.

"Well, thanks Qing..." Bing rubbed the back of his head with his fat fingers.

"Thank you for your honest critic." Lei gave his thanks as well.

"Hmph. I wasn't doing it to compliment you two. I was just saying, you aren't as bad as you think. Maybe if you two cultivated a little more seriously, I could see you becoming more than your average cultivator." Wan told them.

The sand inside the hourglass emptied from the top. A bright light glowed from beneath their feet, blinding them. When their vision returned, they realized they were completely separated from each other inside the 11th floor. The Warp Point must have transported them all to different locations within the floor. Every cultivator staring in the sky right now would be able to see a number etched into it.

* * *

**850/475**

Bing already realized what type of floor this would be seeing that number in the sky. It was a type of test that he's already been through before. During the first test of the Golden Serpent Sect, he needed to survive long enough that the number of participants dwindled in size till it was a good enough number for the elders to end the first test and start the second one. The second test was also similar in nature but focused on a different aspect instead of survival skills.

"This shouldn't be too hard to survive." He spoke sarcastically. A hundred people died as soon as they got teleported.

The soft sand beneath his feet, a hot glaring sun bearing down on him, and the lack of anything but sand in sight.

"I'm going to starve to death, aren't I?"

* * *

"Well... I didn't expect to find myself in this type of situation..." Lei Zhi said slightly excited.

He was in some large structure with sand beneath his feet and stone all around him. A type of temple, he would describe it. Down the hallway in front of him laid several life-threatening traps. Traps that the normal cultivator wouldn't be able to spot without experience in navigating dangerous areas. But unlike the average cultivator, Lei Zhi could see things further than them despite being blind. Thanks to his auxiliary art, Blind Man Can See, he could recreate his surroundings inside his mind by enhancing his other senses to their limits simultaneously in a specific breathing pattern. The pathways his qi goes through during this process is an extremely dangerous one. If a common cultivator tried to use this martial art, they would permanently disrupt every sense except sight. Forcing them to live a hellish life that no other man could possibly live with.

"Sorry, I had to keep you in there so long Quon. I know you don't like being in a Capture Bead." Lei Zhi released Quon and he immediately wrapped himself around Lei's entire body with his tentacles.

Lei rubbed his bulbous transparent head and made his way down the trap-filled hallway while avoiding all the triggers for the traps. Perhaps there could be treasure inside this dangerous place. After that, he would try to find Bing and Qing to meet up with them. With the special talisman Jing gave them, they can easily find each other whenever they wanted. All they had to do was flow their qi into the slip and wait for someone else to respond by also injecting their qi into their own talisman.

* * *

"Hmph. Dumb beasts. Understand your limits." Wan Qing gave a single wave of her fan towards the large Sand Worms. It was the first time she opened her fan all the way. Ni Xong held onto her legs so that he didn't fly off.

Her fan produced sharp blades of wind that danced around her. These wind blades easily cut into the bodies of the spirit beasts, slicing them into pieces as they roared out in pain. It was a massacre of blood, guts, and blowing sand. Ni Xong kept his eyes closed during this as he trusted his owner would be able to handle anything!

"Quit cowering and let's get a move on. Finding those two won't be easy even if we can find each other." Wan told the panda.

"Ror?"

"Hop on. It'll be faster if we fly." Wan brandished her giant fan and tossed it in front of her.

The black fan hovered above the sand. The talented disciple and her pet hopped on and flew above the calm desert in leisure.

'Maybe this floor will be easier than I thought...' Wan thought, before shaking her head.

If she tried to come to this floor last time and found herself in the same situation as before, she would've been devoured without a chance to resist. It was only thanks to this fan that she could come out unscathed against a group of Qi Consolidation realm spirit beasts. What she did wouldn't be possible with her old sword. The thick skin of the Desert Worms were too tough for a stellar-ranked spirit weapon.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm getting pretty close to chapter 100 for this story. I was thinking if i should do anything special for it. Maybe a double or triple chapter length chapter for 100 or maybe a special chapter that takes place in a non-canon universe in where you guys kind of comment what you would like to see from the story but doubt would ever happen in the story.

I'm a lazy author so, uh. i will say don't expect much from it but i will do my best if you guys do want me to do anything special.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	86. Bing's Near-Death Experience

"I'm really going to die out here..." Bing talked to himself.

Sweat dripped endlessly from his body, sticking his clothes to his skin as if they were one in the same. Bing's shield dragged in the sand, creating a path that seemed to endlessly extend behind him. From where Bing was now, you couldn't spot the start of the path. His tongue dryly hung outside his mouth as he's been traveling for days without a sip of water or a crumb of any food.

As he was now, he was desperately wishing for anything to happen to him. Anything at all that could possibly quench his thirst and fill his belly. Being attacked by a horde of spirit beasts? Please and thank you. Getting caught in a trap by thieves and robbers?

'I will gladly feast upon your bodies as respect for allowing me to live.'

His feet have been traveling towards wherever Lei was at the moment. With his fishing pole, he could instantly fish out a spirit beast to eat no matter where he was. It was also nice that he was closer in distance to Bing unlike Qing. Qing wouldn't be able to stop him from starving to death with her fan. Well, that wasn't exactly true but Bing doubted that Qing would allow him to eat a few of her butterflies just so that he wouldn't die. He got the feeling that she didn't like him or Lei all that much. Or really like anyone much at all.

"Please... Anything at all... Heavens I don't deserve to die like this do I? Must I really resort to that? Just to survive?"

Bing collapsed from exhaustion and fell face first into the sand. He was a little happy that he landed on his face instead of on his back. He wouldn't be able to take the heat from the sun bearing down on him so fiercely. The sand might be burning his skin but with his Devil Arts, he could handle a little burning. The extreme temperatures on this floor wasn't the dangerous part for Bing. It was the lack of food! He needed to eat to survive! It didn't matter how well his body could take the heat or cold. It mattered if he dried up into a husk and withered away!

Keeping his eyelids from falling was taking all his strength. He didn't want to do this. He considered it his final and last option to prevent himself from starving to death. A demonic hum escaped from Bing's mouth. Breathing, it was how any martial artist performed their auxiliary art, by breathing in a specific rhythm while flowing qi in a specific pattern through their insides. Bing planned to use his Devil's Arm martial art to save his life. Eating his own flesh, just to survive.

The very thought of it disgusted him but his desire to survive was much stronger than his disgust. An additional arm grew from his belly and threw him over on his back. Bing grabbed the belly arm with his two hands, ready to tear it off and bite into it like a wild animal. The pain would be the worst thing he's ever felt in his entire life.

"Look what we have here boys... a freakish little piggy about to cook itself for us." Bing's body suddenly jumped up with unusual athleticism.

"He doesn't look like he has anything valuable on him... Are you sure this guy is worth stealing from?"

"It's not like it's going to hurt us to rob him when he dies."

"Yeah. Loot is loot you little bitch."

He felt as if he was filled with an endless source of energy as he stared at the desert bandits riding giant lizard. In his eyes, they seemed to turn into various human-sized foods. Bing's stomach roared as he slowly walked towards the closet reptile. His hunger overtook him, he didn't even hear the sounds of the bandits laughing at him as he reached out towards the salamander with his fat fingers. It attempted to bite his hand but Bing was faster.

Bing lifted the large animal with one hand and grew several more from his hand that was choking the spirit beast. Several mouths with razor-sharp teeth and forked tongues appeared on the palm of each of the hands. All the tongues stabbed into the flesh of the salamander and drained it of everything except its bones and blood. The bandit rider fell off during the feeding and landed inside the animal's skeleton completely stunned. Bing could feel his strength returning after devouring the beast. His thirst was quenched, and his hunger was sated.

Bing's eyes wandered over to the remaining lizards, striking fear into their very souls. The ridable reptiles went into a panic and ran away as fast as they could, disobeying their masters' wishes. There was only one bandit remaining. It was the one whose ride he sucked dry. Now that he wasn't starving on the verge of death, he could think a bit more clearly now. These guys were about to rob him, weren't they?

"Let me guess... Your friends are going to come back with even more people to kill me, right?" Bing asked.

"No matter how much a freak you are, you don't stand a chance against our leader when they come! Even if you kill me, you won't survive against our leader!" His entire body shook as he tried to threaten Bing.

"Since I'm going to die anyway, I suppose I should get a final meal before I go, right?" Bing slowly walked towards the frightened bandit.

"No... No...! No! Stay away! Let me go! Please!" Bing picked him up by his throat and held him above the ground with one arm.

"I...have...children..." He choked out.

"I'm sorry." Bing really did mean it.

Even after the thief's muscles, organs, and skin were being extracted by the little mouth on his hand, Bing did feel bad for what he did to the man. Unfortunately for him, there was almost nothing he valued more than his own life. And the only way he could protect his life was by becoming stronger. He didn't have the heart to spare those that were willing do him wrong and possibly bite him in the butt for his kind acts. Unlike Lei Zhi, Bing didn't believe in sparing future troubles. There were too many ways one could lose their life in this world. Getting rid of a few would be helpful in the long run, in Bing's opinion. He might've been affected by the Empress more than he thought...

* * *

"Leader! Leader!" The bandits who just returned to their camp, cried out.

"Who the hell is doing all that yapping? If we're not under attack, I'm beating the hell out of you." The beautiful woman promised.

"Leader! We found someone strong nearby! He might be one of those people that you always spoke about!"

"Eh? Tell me about this person." Her curiosity was piqued.

"He could grow arms from his body!"

"He could lift a Quick-footed Salamander with a single hand!"

"He can eat a man within seconds if he touches you!"

"Yeah! He even ate one of our fucking rides!"

"Huh... This guy sounds more like a monster than a human. Are you idiots sure you didn't all decide to have the same mirage?" She scoffed.

"We're telling the truth leader! Without your special power, we don't stand a chance against him!"

"And you're sure he's one of those people I always talk about?" She wanted clarification.

"He didn't wear any clothes we've ever seen before."

"He also carried a strange weapon in his hand. It was like a large bone bowl or something."

"We didn't get to see how it was used."

"Alright. You guys managed to get me interested just enough. Let's go investigate this monster of a person." The bandit leader got up from her chair and grinned.

She flicked her hand out and a mysterious white and black orb manifested above her palm. Radiating a strange elemental qi that most cultivators wouldn't ever be able to identify. It was with this cultivation technique that allowed her to reign as the Unstoppable Lin Mei of the Desert. The leader of the Sand Shark Bandits. A notorious group that has flourished for the past 3 years thanks to Lin Mei's powerful martial arts.

"My mount has his scent tracked! We can find him anytime Leader!"

"If he's really as scary as you all think he is, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to prepare a small trap for him." Her scouts immediately agreed with her suggestion.

"I'll get the talismans!"

"I'll get the bows and arrows!"

"I'll bring the food!"

"Food?" Lin Mei said confused.

"Oh, the guy is as fat as a pig."

"A fatty beat you all?"

"He didn't beat us. He just scared our mounts away and killed a salamander with ease."

"This guy better be as strong as you said he is or I'm doubling, no, tripling all of your training for the next month." Lin Mei threatened.

"Don't worry leader! Have I ever let you down before?"

Lin Mei couldn't respond to him. He was her best scout and has never given her wrong information about a target. It looks like these bastards found just what she needed to advance to the next rank in her martial art. And after she does that, taking over this desert will be as easy as snapping her finger.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And here we are with Bing! It's been quite a while since we been with the lovable big guy. As the first of Jing's followers, he's been here since the beginning! If you don't count Li Li of course. I wonder how much he's changed drastically since his first appearance?

In my notes for Bing before i began writing this story, Bing was actually supposed to be an entirely different character. i wrote down that he was business-focused, survival/cowardly-natured, great at shit talking/bluffing, easily frightened, pathetic but clever, and perceptive. Now i don't know how the hell i got him to where he is now when he was supposed to be the most cowardly, sneaky, and most pathetic member of the group but i don't regret how i wrote him so far.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	87. Bing In The Desert!

"I suppose now that I have the time and I'm not starving anymore, I should do some training..." Bing decided.

Qing did suggest for him and Lei Zhi to take their training a little more seriously or something like that. In this large empty desert filled with mostly nothing but sand, sand, and more sand. There wasn't anything else he could do that was beneficial. Plus, if he stayed at the same rank he was before they got on this floor, Qing surely would look at him like he was trash.

He wouldn't care too much but it still wouldn't feel nice when he could've just cultivated and not get looked at in such a way in the first place. So, now he had to decide on which martial art he can train first. And it wasn't a hard choice to make when considering all of his current martial arts. Training his Shield Art wouldn't help him survive in this situation too much unless he encountered bandits after bandits. He didn't believe his luck was so good that he could find several people that want to do him wrong and be coincidentally strong enough to beat them every time.

Swift Devil, his movement art, was also similarly not too useful in his current state. He could use it to quickly travel short and large distances, but he would be wasting his energy by doing that. Lei shouldn't be too far away from him. His qi signature hasn't moved in several days so that must mean he's exploring some place. Bing doubted he was dead because he was still sending qi through his message talisman. The dead can't utilize qi, as ghosts aren't real.

'How lucky for him...' He was jealous. He wanted to gain some treasures too.

Devil's Physique, his body martial art, couldn't be trained without eating food. So, that one was immediately crossed off the training list. Bing hasn't seen any animals in this entire desert besides the salamanders from the bandits. Not a single bird, bug, or plant. If he wasn't able to circulate his qi through his dantian right now, he would honestly believe those bandits and salamanders from a few days ago were an illusion, and this was his afterlife.

So, the only useful martial art he could train right now was his Devil's Arms technique. Bing has only recently started to somewhat understand the true potential of this sky-ranked auxiliary art. It had more uses to him than just allowing him to grow additional arms over his body. Especially with the mysterious hand that seems to have a craving for flesh. Bing had a feeling that the thing that wanted him to feed it flesh all the time, held a deeper secret about his martial art. Something that he has yet to discover.

Bing closed his eyes and begin cultivating along with training his Devil's Arms. If anyone were to see Bing as he was now, they would scream and call him a disgusting freakish mutant. His skin bubbled like he had boiling bumps over every inch of his body. From time to time, arms of variable sizes would quickly jut out of random areas on his body. Sometimes extra arms formed from those arms and other times they would combine into one large hand. This unpleasing sight continued for several hours as Bing slowly started to understand just how his martial art worked more and more.

'This martial art... is a little bit too strong isn't it?' Bing thought with a little excitement.

Now he knew why his luck was so horrible. Him gaining these martial arts back during the recruitment test took all his good karma! And he hasn't been doing any good acts of charity to refill his karma back up. The heavens weren't screwing him over! He's been the problem all along!

Three sky-ranked martial arts at the start of his cultivating career? Why would he need anything good ever again with a jackpot like that? Some cultivators live for thousands of years without even being able to see a sky-ranked martial art in the flesh! Now that he thinks about it, his future was set as long as he makes sure to get plenty of resources.

And that wasn't it either. Bing felt that the potential of this auxiliary art possibly exceeded some heaven-ranked martial arts. Well, as of right now he couldn't prove that statement. But if his hunch was correct, then there was a chance that he could grow without a limit as long as he continued to feed his devil hand.

'There's a lot of people in this world, isn't there? It shouldn't be too much of a problem if a few cultivators were to go missing all of a sudden... Cultivators as a majority really don't help the world. So, no one would mind if a few of the worser ones started disappearing...' Bing's thoughts took a sinister turn.

Bump! Bing opened his eyes and realized he bumped into some sort of warm scaley object. He looked up and figured out that he just somehow ran into a large snake spirit beast. It didn't even give him a moment to apologize for his rudeness. The snake hissed at him before striking with incredible speed. Bing had to use Swift Devil to avoid being bitten by those large fangs dripping with green venom.

The snake's eyes bulged in surprise as Bing didn't use his movement technique to escape but to charge into the snake instead! This move tackled them both across the sand, accidentally getting sand into Bing's eyes. Leaving him open to be knocked away by the reptile's chunky tail and getting lodged into sand with his large behind stuck in the air. His opponent used this chance to try and sink their fangs into his thick shaking bottom.

Only to be denied as Bing used his last movement talisman to get himself out of the sand and out of harm's way. Using the snake's surprise as it swallowed nothing but sand, Bing used Swift Devil once again to get the upper hand in this moment. His large rotund body appeared over the sand snake hacking up all the sand it gulped. He swung his shield into the side of the spirit beast's head, burying it deep into the sand.

"Can't let you get back up! But I will thank you for the meal!" Bing crashed down towards the snake before the sand could fill up the pit it was launched into.

His beefy hands grabbed the head of the snake as an additional pair of arms shot out from the sides of his stomach and also grabbed on to the skull. The snake screeched as he used all the strength in his body to rip its head off. To make sure his grip was tight, he placed his foot onto its neck so that he didn't just drag the snake with his strength. All the power he's gained from devouring cultivators and spirit beasts with his devil hand was used to tear the head off this reptile. A gory spray of blood splattered all over Bing's figure, drenching him entirely in blood. His hearing was also a little damaged from the snake's piercing yell.

"Pleck! Yuck!" Bing spat out the blood that got in his mouth. He had his mouth open and didn't realize it until it was too late.

There was a big smile on his face soon after. He could finally eat a real meal! Bing didn't count that salamander from earlier as food because the devil hand ate it instead of him. They might share the same stomach but Bing preferred cooking and enjoying the aroma, texture, and flavor of the food on his tongue. The devil hand was fine with anything that had meat and he doubted it cared about taste.

Bing held onto the tail of the giant serpent and dug himself out of the sand trying to drown him. With a goofy grin on his face, he started preparing to cook the snake. Just imagining what this spirit beast was going to taste like was causing him to droll already. Spirit beast meat always tastes delicious if properly handled. There were a few exceptions to that but those types of spirit beasts taste gross to not be attacked by predators.

The round Qi Gatherer threw several talismans onto the decapitated body of the snake and watched as its body slowly cooked in glee. He was sure nothing could possibly ruin his good mood as the snake cooked into a sparkling delicious smelling brown perfection. If he was being honest, this was the only time he's ever been this happy during the several days he's been on the 11th floor of the Great Tower. There was nothing like good smelling food to cheer up one's mood.

Bing could smell that the meat was almost ready for eating. It was a skill he gained since childhood. If there was food cooking nearby, he could tell exactly when it was ready to be served. He didn't use this skill to pursue a career in cooking though. Who has ever heard of a chef cultivator? It's ridiculous. It's much safer to become a cultivator that knows how to cook well rather than focusing on cooking entirely.

What if a customer is a cultivator and says that your food is crap? You could only beg for mercy or die because you didn't have the skills to satisfy this cultivator that was stronger than you. In the perfect world, the customer would just leave and never come back to eat your food. No need for violence, murder, or any type of pleading and begging. Just a dissatisfied customer and a chef who needs more training in the culinary arts.

"Haha! It's done!" Bing cried joyfully.

"Surprise Fatty!" Several men popped out from the sand beneath him and leapt towards him with curved blades.

Bing's mind went blank as a massive amount of sand covered his hard earned acquired meal.

"I swear to the heavens above, none of you will survive my wraith..." Multiple blades pierced through his body.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Next chapter will be quite the uh... fight? Bloodbath? Massacre? What do you guys think?

Fun Fact: Bing's hair color is naturally blue. If you all forgotten. I'm sure i mentioned it during his debut chapter and Jing's reaction to it but i'm not too sure.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	88. Bing In The Desert Part 2!

The blades stabbing through his torso were locked within the folds of his flesh. The sand bandits were unable to move their sword even a single centimeter! It didn't matter if they were trying to pull their swords out or shove their swords further in, it was useless. No one knew exactly what Bing was feeling at this moment. His blue hair hung down over his face, covering his eyes and expression. What they did know was that he was not moving an inch.

"Is he dead?" A bandit asked.

"Could you survive with 6 fucking swords stabbing through you?"

"I did hear he was a monster earlier..."

"You're such a fucking retar-" A loud metal clang sounded out and a body fell to the ground.

One by one, all the bandits that stabbed him had their skulls crushed in with his shield. The swords lodged into his body were slowly being pushed out by his fat. They dropped with a soft thud to the sand below and Bing turned around to face his attackers. This ambush was planned. Somehow, they tracked him and planned to kill him here.

"Fire!" A voice shouted as a rain of arrows headed straight towards Bing.

Bing raised his shield and slowly walked forward. None of the arrows could even scratch the surface of his shield. Its defensive abilities were remarkable. Bing has yet to find the limit to the amount of damage it could take. At times even Ying's sword couldn't pierce through it during their spars.

With Devil's Physique, his body could naturally take arrows on without any harm. They bounced off his skin when they made contact. This greatly startled the sand bandits. Once they saw that their arrows had no effect on him, they began throwing talismans at him instead. Bing couldn't risk getting hit by one of those. There are countless number of spells that could ruin him even with his tough body.

He only knew this after finding out the Empress became an apprentice spellmaster. There was no reason why a person like her would do that for no reason. There had to be something about the art of talismans and formations that could be used in a way never seen before. The Empress tended to do things like that.

He used Swift Devil once to avoid the magical flying slips of paper and then a second time to arrive in the middle of their group.

"Kill him! Kill him!" He slashed at Bing with his sword.

"Die you fat monster!" He shot an arrow towards Bing's head.

Bing calmly waved his shield and blocked both attacks. He ruthlessly struck them back with unrestrained blows with his fist and shield. Bing spared no mercy towards any of the bandits aiming to rob and kill him. He was like an unstoppable juggernaut as he tore through them like brittle wood with his terrifying strength. Blades had little effect on his body, arrows were like toothpicks, and talismans were avoided with extreme caution.

He considered himself pretty lucky at this moment as most of these guys here were near his cultivation stage or below it. If they were higher then, he would have to escape to save his life and come back a different time to hunt them all down. Bing remembered Qing telling him that the tower rewards those who earn it. He wondered if the tower would reward him for dealing with these bandits and what kind of reward would it be. He hoped it would be a better cultivation technique. Bing's been stuck with the most common cultivation technique on the continent and couldn't find a better one that felt right to him in the Martial Pavilion.

"Gahhh!" Bing knocked his shield into a bandit's forehead, launching him across the sand.

"I know I killed your lizard mount but is that really any reason to come after my life with this much force?" Bing suddenly asked.

"Of course not. We had a different reason for coming after you." A woman suddenly revealed herself.

She rose from the sand right beneath him and this shocked Bing greatly. He hopped away to gain distance from the woman and was secretly frightened. Where did she come from?! Bing didn't sense anyone near him at all! She escaped his senses and could've easily killed him if she wanted to!

"And that reason is...?" She was stronger than him and not by a small amount.

"You're not from around here, are you?" She asked. It was a probing question, possibly.

"Of course I am. I lived in this desert my entire life." Bing lied with a straight face.

"Oh?" Her voice rose in amused interest. "Then who am I?"

"Like I wouldn't be able to tell who you are. The real question is do you know who I am?" Bing shot the question back towards her. He made sure to pump up his voice in an arrogant manner.

"No. I don't. And if I don't know you, then you certainly aren't from around here." She was important. She must be a big figure on this floor.

"Heh, I guess your little scouts aren't worth much if they can't even find out about me. The Great Mountain Crusher, Leng Huan. Everyone knows about me and my powerful Huan Clan." Bing boasted perfectly.

"A little Qi Gatherer at the 5th stage dares to mock my men? Surely your background is anything but ordinary if you have the guts to insult my men to my face."

"What are your men worth to me?! My entire clan could destroy your little group with a fart! Do you truly not recognize this handsome young lord?" Bing flexed his plump muscles.

"Hmm..." She was conflicted. His bluff was actually working!

"I'll say this out of the kindness of my heart. Get out of my sight and stop bothering this young master. My patience is wearing thin for you bandits. If you wish to continue spitting on my kind gestures, then prepare to find your entire little group annihilated within the next few days." Bing threatened with a pompous gesture.

"Oi! Did you bastards properly investigate this guy?" She yelled to her men.

The fact he wasn't cowering to her when she was an 8th stage Qi Consolidator probably unnerved her. He had to thank Wan Qing for this. She regularly used her 6th stage Qi Consolidation qi aura around him and Lei. Not caring if they could withstand it or not. This forced them to quickly adapt or become a bigger burden to her.

'Now's my chance!' Bing thought.

Bing used Swift Devil and just barely touched his devil hand around the neck of the powerful woman. Her response was almost instantaneous, but it was enough for his hand to prick her neck with his devil hand's tongue. His devil hand drained some of her energy, allowing Bing to not die from this unbelievably quick counter kick. After taking some of her physical essence, Bing's shield was struck with her foot. This unassuming light kick was exactly what Bing was hoping for. Bing used the force from her powerful attack to send himself flying away at speeds he wouldn't be able to reach on his own. This was only possible thanks to third chapter within his Shield Art manual, the Art of Counter, which teaches him about using the opponent's strength against them. He's only learned the basics of this chapter and none of the truly powerful defensive techniques within the chapter.

"Thanks! See ya later!" The bandits were nothing more than just a blur in the distance at this point.

"Leng Huan of the Huan Clan! You will not escape this desert alive!" Her yell became as quiet as a whisper at the speeds he was going.

He made sure to position himself in the direction that Lei was at before attacking the woman. It would be counter-productive if he was sent flying in the opposite direction from Qing or Lei. Bing still didn't let his guard down even though he was so far away from the woman. As soon as he landed back on the ground, he used Swift Devil till his body couldn't handle the strain anymore. Looking at the state his shield was in, he absolutely wouldn't stand a single chance against that woman.

His shield was damaged horribly. A deep dent was made into the shield with small cracks coming from the edges going towards the center. All the bones in Bing's shield arm were broken. If he wasn't using Devil's Arms and a recovery pill to slowly heal the injuries, his arm would look a mangled horrifying mess right now. But he didn't come out of that situation with nothing.

A stupidly wide silly smile was on Bing's face. He brought his palms together and slowly split them apart as a tiny black and white orb manifested in between them. The orb immediately shattered and blood spurted from Bing's orifices, but his smile didn't lessen one bit. Whatever this technique was he stole from the woman, it was too powerful for him to utilize with his lacking qi control. He'd ruin his qi pathways trying to correctly perform this technique.

But there was something that confused Bing about this lucky situation. Stealing that technique wasn't what he aimed for at all. He didn't even know he had the power to steal techniques! Bing just hoped to escape without suffering too much damage from that woman. He's absorbed several people with his devil hand but never has a situation like this happened to him before. What Bing was interested in knowing was what was the difference between her and the other people's he's drained.

It was a mystery he hoped to find out one day but for now, he just wanted to get the hell off this floor. If anyone asked him about his opinion about deserts, he would ask them, "Did you mean desserts? I love them."

"Heh..." His stomach rumbled as he laughed at his own joke.

Bing's attention was captured by a very strange sight in the sky coming towards him. The figure waved at him with a mysteriously large object on his back. While the other one, far above him, looked down on him with disappointment. Heh heh... he expected that look when he didn't breakthrough in the several days he's been on this floor.

Wan Qing was flying on her fan with Ni Xong in her lap. Lei Zhi hooked his fishing pole to Wan Qing's fan and was soaring through the sky connected to her fan. Quon was wrapped around him and Xiurong as too tiny to see from this distance. Quite a strange sight to greet him but considering his allies, he isn't too surprised... If anything, he's glad to see them. Now he could have a feast with Lei's fishing rod!

"Hey guys!" Bing waved.

"I see you made zero progress whatsoever." Qing immediately struck him where it hurts.

"I uh... had some trouble on this floor..." He admitted somewhat embarrassed.

"Hmph." She lowered her fan to only slightly hover above sand.

"You must have had it rough. I can tell by how messed up you look." Lei said with a giant golden coffin on his back.

"What's with the..." Bing asked, referring to his coffin.

"A spirit tool I found. I'll show you what it does another time." Lei answered.

"How was your journey Qing?" Bing asked nicely.

"Better than yours it seems." She took in his appearance after hearing Lei Zhi bring it up.

"Isn't that the truth..." He agreed. "I just ran into an 8th stage Qi Consolidator not too long ago and barely got away with my life."

"I was wondering why the left side of your body looked like that..." Lei said.

"You can see my injuries?!" Bing exclaimed. Outwardly his left side didn't look injured at all because of his auxiliary art covering it but inwardly his bones an organs on that side were a complete mess.

"I can see quite a few things." Lei revealed.

"Hmm. That's not bad." Qing couldn't lie. It wasn't easy to spot internal injuries. Even qi had its limits when it came to sensing.

"Lei Zhi, I need a big favor from you. I'm starving and haven't eaten in many days. Can you please fish me up some food to cook so I can not starve to death?" Bing begged.

"Not a problem Bing but just so you know, I have no idea what I'll pull out with this pole. There is a chance that it could be poisonous or inedible entirely." Lei shared.

'Shouldn't you be worried about your injuries?' Wan Qing thought.

"Let's do it." Bing wasn't a gambling man but sometimes you have to take chances to survive. He refused to starve again.

"What are you doing exactly?" Qing was curious. What mysterious ability did Lei Zhi's fishing pole have? Was it similar to her own fan? Even though she has been with them through several floors in the Great Tower, she hasn't seen too much of their abilities as she handled most of the trouble that came their way.

"Come watch an old man do some good ole fishing." Lei Zhi took a squat on the sand and channeled his qi into his weapon. Bing excitedly stood next to him, preparing to subdue any beast that gets hooked by Lei. Ni Xong mimicked Bing's excitement and copied him as Wan Qing relaxed on her fan and looked on in feigned disinterest.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A second near-death experience right after barely surviving his first one! Bing's luck surely isn't good at all! Maybe he was on to something when he said he exhausted all of his good karma...

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	89. Doing Some Good Ole Fishing

"Oh. This one might be a fighter." Lei Zhi's fishing rod was bending at an impressive length. "Do you mind helping me out Xiurong?" He asked.

Bing and Ni Xong prepared themselves for whatever was going to come out of that multi-colored slit. The golden panda cub happily copied Bing. Ni Xong remembered the delicious treat he shared with him in the past and liked him ever since. He hoped that he would taste more delicious treats by sticking close next to him. Wan Qing was more interested in what Lei Zhi's fishing rod was doing rather than keeping her eye on Ni Xong.

Xiurong crawled her way over onto Lei Zhi's hand and gave the pole a small tug. The bent fishing tool was immediately fixed and a small creature instantly came flying out of the slit. Bing used Swift Devil and arrived in front of Lei Zhi to catch whatever was coming out. Ni Xong tried to keep up with Bing but he didn't have any movement martial arts and could only clumsily run over to him to try and help.

"Hot! Hot!" Bing cried out as he dropped the beast that came from the portal.

Saying that Bing was shocked would be an understatement. His resistance to extreme temperatures have increased greatly ever since he's gained Devil's Physique. There were very few times that he could say that something was hot to him now. Whatever this fish was, it was by far one of the hottest thing's he's ever touched.

"A fire fish?" Wan Qing questioned.

The creature in question swam through the air as if it was water. A fierce flame burned on its body that slightly singed everyone's skin. Fur in Ni Xong's case. Bing smacked the fish with most of his strength and killed it in one hit while slightly burning his unbroken hand. He sucked his teeth from the pain of the burn while Ni Xong helped him by slapping it after it died.

Only to have his fur catch on fire from the flames. Bing didn't have enough time to tell the little guy not to touch it as he was managing his own burn. The golden cub's reaction to suddenly bursting into flames was to run around in a circle screaming. Not the smartest but then again, if Bing was at his age, he would probably do the same.

"You idiot!" Wan Qing reprimanded harshly. She hopped off her fan and lightly swung it their direction.

The fierce winds blew out both Ni Xong and the burning fish's flames. Although, it was only temporary for the fish. The flames soon came back to life after a few moments of being extinguished. Lei Zhi went over to the fish and stabbed it with his fishing hook in a specific part on its body. After poking an internal organ within the creature, they heard the sound of air being pushed out from inside.

"How did you know that would stop the flames?" Bing asked curiously

"I didn't. That's just where all its qi was stored." Lei Zhi explained.

"I couldn't sense any qi at all from that fish..." Bing muttered.

"You are a body cultivator." Lei reasoned.

"That's true..." Bing agreed with this reasoning. His qi control and qi quality in general were lacking terribly in comparison to a qi cultivator at his stage.

"Hey, Lei, do you think this thing will taste spicy?" Bing suddenly asked.

"Heh... You would wonder something like that, wouldn't ya?" Lei Zhi chuckled.

"It's an honest question." Bing replied.

"Probably not after what I just did but I wouldn't know for sure." Lei Zhi answered him.

"I didn't know spirit beasts had organs to store qi in either..." Bing muttered.

"Are you ready for round 2? I doubt this'll be enough to feed a guy like you." Lei Zhi asked. The red glimmering fish was thicker than Bing's arm.

"You know me well." He snickered. "Give me a second to cool my hand off. My hand still stings badly."

Bing and Lei Zhi watched the fish's fire slowly die out while Wan Qing was busy comforting the terrified and slightly charred Ni Xong. She confirmed that he wasn't injured and at most just lost some fur on his body. This didn't help his emotional state though, even though he was fine he was still crying his eyes out. Wan Qing rolled her eyes as she let the cub cry into her chest. It was annoying but she wouldn't be cruel to her spirit beast and ignore its feelings. Hopefully he'll grow out of this pathetic phase of his and learn to be a real man soon. Unfortunately, thinking about all the men in this group made her worried for his future even more. None of them had too many manly qualities that she would want for him to emulate.

"You should know better than to touch fire, idiot." Wan Qing said.

"Rour..." He sobbed in response.

Minutes went by with the group waiting for Bing's pain to go away. While he was waiting, Bing tried several things to make the pain go away faster. Coating his hand in qi, using his Devil's Arm to try and deal with it somehow, and when that didn't work, he simply tried blowing on it. None of the methods worked and he was starting to get worried. Not even the recovery pill seemed to work on it. Lei Zhi tried to help him but he didn't have anything on him that could help either. Xiurong suggested cutting it off with her claw. Bing immediately refused that suggestion. He didn't know if his Devil's Arm could regrow limbs but he sure as hell didn't want to find out over something like this.

"Tch. I'll handle it." Wan Qing spoke annoyed. A bright blue butterfly floated off her of finger and flew towards Bing's burned palm.

Once it landed on his hand, it shook its wings and scattered a small amount of blue dust onto his hand. In almost no time at all, tiny little blue spores grew all over Bing's hand. He could feel his qi being drained by these little things and looked at Wan Qing in confusion. After doing its job, the butterfly took off from his hand and returned back to Wan Qing.

"Don't let those stay on your hand for too long. It might suck you dry and completely drain everything in your hand." She casually explained, terrifying Bing greatly.

"I'm not going to lose my hand, am I?!" He was one second away from rapidly shaking his hand to get rid of the spores.

"Hehe... As long as your quick enough." Wan giggled.

"I believe she means that you have to remove them when you no longer feel the pain from the fire." Lei Zhi clarified.

"Oh! Thanks Qing!" Bing patiently waited till he couldn't feel the burning on his palm anymore.

Bing clapped his hands together with great force after several seconds, destroying the spores.

"Ha ha ha! My hand is back to normal now!" Bing cheered.

"You don't have a lot of qi, do you?" Qing asked him.

"Nah. My cultivation technique isn't the best so I can only gather so much." He explained. It was the reason why it takes him so long to break through even though he has 3 sky-ranked martial arts.

"Which one is it?" She wondered.

"Book of Qi." He answered.

"Ew." She responded honestly.

"Yeah... Heh heh heh... That's a normal reaction." He rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. It was the most looked down on cultivation technique within the continent because literally anyone could afford it.

"I'm sure you'll find one suited for you soon." Lei said positively.

"I can only hope. Now, let's get this second fish." He rubbed his hands in anticipation. The flame fish was already placed to the side, ready to be prepped and cooked for later.

"Alright, here we go." Lei Zhi tossed his fishing pole into the unexplainable tear in space.

Bing waited near Lei Zhi so that he could grab whatever came out. Ni Xong was staying behind Wan Qing this time around and watching with her from her lap. Quon wanted to help Lei Zhi so he floated next to Bing ready to paralyze whatever came out of the opening next with his tentacles. The group then caught several different beasts of all shapes, sizes, and with all types of abilities in a few hours.

Some of the beasts were forced to be sent back as their strength was too great for them to handle. Wan Qing was the most shocked when encountering these types of spirit beasts. One of the unique things about Lei Zhi's fishing pole was that every beast pulled out from the colorful slit was at the same cultivation stage as Lei Zhi. Who himself was at the 5th stage of the Qi Gathering realm. So, when she met with these incredibly powerful beasts that should be considered trash to her and seeing them easily dwarf her in every aspect, it was a very humbling experience.

It somewhat reminded her of the time she almost died against Kun Lao. Someone that should've been far weaker than her was actually better than her. At first, she gave the excuse that it was because of his bloodline and spirit weapon that he bested her but as time went on, she had to accept that she lost fair and square. She didn't train hard enough. She didn't push herself as hard as she could have. She underestimated her opponent. She didn't take the fight seriously when she should have. As humiliating as it is, Wan had to accept that her talent has its limits. Her pride should not cloud her judgement and decisions. If she doesn't change those qualities about herself, it won't be long before she's dying in a pathetic manner all over again.

"Hahaha! We got a great haul everyone! Now let's get cooking!" Bing happily announced with several injuries over his body.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Slice of life chapters coming up.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	90. Cooking The Food

"I think its best if you wait till you've healed up some. Your injuries are not light." Lei Zhi said after taking a close look at him.

"No can do Lei. If I wait any longer my stomach is going to rupture and burst from starvation." Bing began preparing the various different types of fishes.

"What are you even talking about?" Wan Qing didn't believe that's how starving worked for anyone.

"Heh. He's just excited to eat all the delicacies here. It wouldn't have hurt if he waited till his injuries recovered but, youth is the time to be reckless. Even if it's over something like this." Lei Zhi happily chuckled.

"Sounds stupid to me." Wan Qing replied.

"Well, we're all different." He smiled at her.

"Haha! I knew bringing all these spices would be worth it!" Bing excitedly exclaimed.

In between his meaty fingers were spices of all sorts of colors. He sprinkled them across every beast they successfully killed. Ni Xong was very interested in what Bing was doing now that they weren't pulling out anymore beasts to fight. To him, now that all the strong fish were dead or gone, no more scary things would happen. He scampered out of Qing's lap and closely watched Bing preparing the fish. Ni Xong's sensitive nose couldn't handle the spices and he started sneezing all over the place, making Wan Qing more annoyed and Lei Zhi to chuckle at him cutely sneezing.

Ni Xong didn't understand why he was sneezing and got scared. Bringing him straight back to Wan Qing's lap once again. Unfortunately, unlike last time, Wan Qing did not comfort him about this.

"Quit being such a girl! Man up! You're just sneezing. Nothing bad is happening to you." She explained harshly.

Ni Xong didn't understand why Wan Qing was yelling at him but he did recognize the words man and up. It was when she wanted him to do the opposite of what he felt. Ni Xong went over to the nice old man instead and was stopped in his tracks before he could reach Lei Zhi. A terrifying aura latched onto him from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked in a frightening tone.

"Raor!" He sneezed trying to respond.

"Get back over here and stop crying over every single thing! If I tell you sneezing isn't anything to be afraid of, then it isn't!" She told him.

He sorrowfully walked over to Wan Qing, still sneezing horribly. Bing just got done seasoning the fish and was now cooking them all. Now he had to wait till they were done cooking. In the meantime, he should cultivate. His innate skill that allows him to know whenever food was done cooking would wake him when it was time.

"I wish Ying was here..." Bing muttered when he saw how slowly the fish were being cooked.

"I don't think she would appreciate you thinking of her in that type of way." Lei Zhi told him.

"That's true. She'd probably punch me across the desert if she knew I was thinking of having her use her flame martial arts to help cook the food." Bing agreed.

"Why wouldn't she? No one likes being used." Wan added.

"Yeah but... it would be so helpful."

"True but also inconsiderate sometimes." Lei said.

"How?" Bing asked.

"How would you feel if someone only wanted you around because you could cook for them? And the only reason they would talk to you was regarding your cooking and nothing else." Lei Zhi asked back.

"What does that have to do with Ying?" Bing cluelessly asked.

"Idiot." Wan Qing bluntly stated.

"What?!" Bing felt insulted. What were they trying to get at?

"Let me try and explain it in a different way for you..." Lei said to him. "There is more to Ying than just her ability to make fire."

"Yeah, I know that." Bing agreed.

"But you don't get how it would be insulting if you used her for that one purpose?" Qing asked while staring at him with an insulting look in her eyes.

Then it all clicked inside Bing's head.

"Ooh! No, no, no guys you got it all wrong. I didn't mean to imply that I thought that Ying was only useful for her fire. I know there are several other sides to her that are equally as good, I was just saying that her fire would be so helpful right now. Not that she's only useful because of her fire." Bing clarified.

"There ya go." Lei Zhi smiled. He knew the boy didn't think of Ying like that, he just needed to think of his words more carefully.

"Hmph. You're still dumb but at least you're not that dumb." Wan Qing complimented.

"Heh... Sorry about the misunderstanding." Bing felt a small tug on his leg.

He looked down to see Ni Xong saying something to him while pointing to the cooking food. Bing guessed he must be wondering when the food will be ready. He carefully sniffed the barely cooked fishes to estimate the time when they would be ready.

"It'll take some hours before they're ready for eating." Bing told him.

"Don't disturb me while I'm cultivating." Wan Qing said to the two.

"We'll wake you when the food's ready." Lei Zhi told her.

"When did I ever say I was hungry?" Wan Qing coldly responded as an uncountable number of colorful butterflies surrounded her and encompassed her figure in a dome of butterflies.

"I guess we should get to cultivating as well, huh?" Lei Zhi said to Bing as he took a seat and crossed his legs.

"One of us should keep an eye out." Bing said.

"Don't worry about that. Xiurong and Quon can keep watch for us. They don't need to cultivate like us humans who need to concentrate to cultivate." Lei Zhi explained.

"Alright then. I'll wake you when the food is ready." Bing got into his meditative pose to begin cultivating.

The two men closed their senses off and focused solely on absorbing the plentiful qi around them to bring into their dantian. They cycled this qi throughout their body, slowly nourishing every cell within them. This nourishment for the cells would increase their strength ever so slightly. Cultivators would repeat this cycling of qi hundreds of times during cultivation until their body couldn't accept anymore. Then they would use the qi that they absorbed to try and break through the natural barrier placed within their dantian to breakthrough to the next cultivation stage. The process differed for everyone as no cultivator had the same body. Even those who practice the same cultivation skill wouldn't have the same progress as the act of cultivating was also different for everyone.

Some are taught to cultivate in a specific manner by those older than them who were also taught by someone who taught them. Others learned instinctively and on their own through trial and error. There is no telling which way is correct or incorrect as both cultivation practices have seen great success through several famous cultivators sharing their methods. It is still highly debated to this day which practice method is superior. Natural or taught.

Wan Qing's hundreds of butterflies circling around herself meant that her cultivation technique was somehow connected to the butterflies. Lei Zhi had no such special event taking place around him while he was cultivating. Not even an aura of qi that surrounded his body, which was highly unusual. Most cultivators emitted some type of qi while absorbing the natural energy within the air. Ying emitted a hot flaming aura while she cultivated. Hu Tao emitted an electrical aura or a heavy aura while he cultivated. Bing was also included in this category.

Bing had multiple arms shooting out from different parts of his body while he was cultivating. A barely visible black and white aura formed around his body. His cultivation technique was somehow able to merge or connect with his Devil Arts. It was surprising as it was incredibly rare to find cultivation techniques that can combine with other martial arts. Even elemental martial arts don't merge so easily with martial techniques of the same element.

The spirit beasts who didn't need to meditate to cultivate looked at each other. Ni Xong went over to Xiurong and Quon to play. Xiurong grew herself to the panda cub's size and Quon floated above them both. It was their job to protect the humans from being attacked.

'We train?' Quon blorped.

'No training. We protect humans.' Xiurong clicked.

'I don't like fighting...' Ni Xong roared.

'You must. Or humans will die.' Xiurong told him.

'I don't want her to die.' Ni Xong responded.

'Then you gotta fight! To protect her!' Quon said.

He still didn't look too comfortable with the idea of fighting but if it was to protect his owner then he had to try at least.

'Okay... I will fight.' He gathered his nerves.

'Good. You are weak male but you are not worthless.' Xiurong praised.

'You'll be a strong male in no time Xong! Just do what I do!' Quon floated around the panda quickly.

'I can't float like that.' Ni Xong said.

'No! That's not what I meant! You just need to be brave like me! I'm not scared of anything!'

'I can't do that either. I'm scared of a lot of things.'

'It is okay to be afraid. What is not okay is letting that fear take control of you. A strong male must be able to recognize danger and learn whether to avoid it or destroy it.' Xiurong explained.

'I'll try my best Xiurong.'

'Good. Because something is coming now. Prepare yourselves.' Xiurong turned around and faced in the direction where the threat was coming.

'I'll handle this!' Quon floated in front of Xiurong, oozing with confidence.

'I'll go get my gloves!' Ni Xong clumsily ran over to the meditating Wan Qing to get his golden gauntlets next to her.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Neat little chapter with the spirit beasts Wednesday. I enjoyed writing about it and didn't really think i would ever write a chapter focusing specifically on the spirit beasts of Jing's followers. It just kind of came up in the moment while i was writing like most events.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	91. The Beast Chapter

In front of the giant octopus and crab were several long-necked beasts staring in their direction. They were giant birds with threatening presences. Their eyes focused on the cooking food instead of the two spirit beasts who planned on defending it.

'Take food.'

'Easy food.'

'Get food.'

And they started running towards the cooking fishes. Their speed was quick and their long legs carried dangerously sharp talons on the edge of their feet. Hard steel-like beaks with long slobbery tongues hanging out their mouths. It was obvious that they were carnivorous birds from the way they greedily eyed the fishes. Nothing else was on their mind except the tantalizing smell of the slowly cooking meat.

Quon stepped up first and floated in front of the herd of desert birds. He used all eight of his tentacles like whips and slapped every large bird that he flew past. Each bird he slapped with his tentacles squawked out in horrible pain and almost instantly dropped to the sand, unable to move a single inch from the terrible pain. Quon's speed was fast enough to keep up with the flightless birds so, they couldn't outrun him and try to ignore him over the cooking food. But they did try exactly that and ignore him over the food. Their brains didn't take in that other members of their herd were being taken out and instead only focused on the delicious smelling meat.

Bird brains in the truest sense of the word. Xiurong powerfully stood in front of the ones that managed to get past Quon. She didn't plan on letting a single bird live that intended to come past her. And from what she could see, every single one of them were planning that exact thing. They didn't even acknowledge her presence with a glance as they ran towards her.

'Dumb birds.' She clicked.

Xiurong grew her right claw and took a simple swing at the row of birds trying speed past her. Each bird was caught in her gigantic claw and split apart. The next row of spirit beasts coming were smacked away with their bones crushes. None of them stood a chance against her. Neither individually nor grouped up together. But they never even entertained the thought of fighting Xiurong.

Their mind was on one thing since the start and Xiurong had her limits despite her mighty strength. She wasn't quite as quick as the birds. Some of the birds managed to use the corpses of their fallen group members as platforms to jump over Xiurong's claws. A few of them even managed to hop on her claw and jump completely over her head to head towards the food. It enraged her that some got past her but she couldn't very well turn around and chase after them. Even more would break through, she would just have to leave it to the child.

'Go away!' Ni Xong yelled as he uppercutted a bird far away.

He stood in his boxing stance and focused on each bird heading in his direction. A strong straight to the body that sent a bird flying into the distance. A follow up corkscrew punch to another beast that blew it away in a spiral. His fists were like an infinite onslaught of attacks as each attack came with another attack behind it. They all flowed seamlessly and none of the attacks looked out of place. An unlimited combo attack! This was Ni Xong's martial art gifted to him by Jing!

Hundred Shattering Fists! An unranked martial art that teaches through pictures rather than words like normal human manuals. Perfect for spirit beasts who cannot read the human language! The focus of this Fist Art was an unrelenting speedy assault with utmost brutality. Those who manage to master this technique will have the strength to blast away oceans with their fists. One negative effect of this martial art was shown to be that the user's fists may suddenly combust into flames once one trains it to the advanced stage. It's stated that the creators of the manual hold no responsibility to those that may burn their fists into ash from practicing this martial art in very small letters near that chapter.

Ni Xong wouldn't have to worry about that for a long while though. He was at the initial stage, 2 stages below advanced and 1 stage away from elementary, which was the starting stage for any martial art. As of now, his only focus was improving the fluidity, strength, and speed of his arms. Elementary stage was learning how to follow up his punches with more punches. Hundreds of different types of punches were shown in the chapter for those at the initial stage.

Ni Xong was exhibiting most of those punches on every spirit beast that got past Xiurong. Each of his punches took the flightless birds out in a single hit in most cases, but when one wasn't enough to take it out, a second one would come out lightning quick to finish it for good. The longer he kept his assault up, the faster his fists would become. If a single punch previously took a second to throw out, as he was now, he could throw out 3 punches every second. This would continually increase the longer he kept his body moving and his arms punching.

The only downside to this was, it became more taxing on his body and qi as time went on. A martial art that gave strength at the cost of one's body. Quite common for higher ranked martial arts as good things must come at some price. And Ni Xong was still just a small cub that has not been in this world for that long. His arms were shaking, his body was hurting all over, and he felt like crying because of the pain. They still had quite a few more birds to deal with even though he just wanted to lie down and rest.

Ni Xong's eyes wandered over to the cultivating Wan Qing and the thought of her getting hurt because of him pained his heart. She may not always be very nice to him but he still cares about her a lot. Enough to withstand this pain his body was going through and continue to fight so that she can stay safe. He gritted his teeth and gave out a cute fierce roar as he gave his all into finishing the rest of these beasts off.

'Give it your all little one.' Xiurong supported him.

Her claws smashed into any bird body they could land on. The large birds seemed to excel only in speed and were quite weak when it came to other prospects. They couldn't handle strong attacks. They didn't attack with powerful strength. And they weren't that good in the mental department.

'Haha! Show em whose boss Xong!' Quon cheered.

He's already finished up with the ones in the front. His paralyzing poison was enough to take them down with a single tap of his tentacle. Their only fate was to experience excruciating pain from his poison and hope that they would suffer heart attacks from the pain to put them out of their misery. Quon's poison lied in stimulating all the pain receptors within a creature's body to immobilize them for consumption. This poison would stay within the prey's body for weeks if left untreated. There was no known cure for this poison where Quon came from. But in this world, there were several ways one could cure the poison.

Ni Xong reared his fist back with the last of his strength. He struggled to bring it back all the way but his final enemy was right in front of him. There was no way he could just give up now. His final punch was ready to fire. The little golden panda couldn't even feel his legs anymore from moving all over the place but they still moved when he needed them to. Ni Xong leapt towards the final bird and punched it straight in its beak. The spirit beast that was close to snatching a red-colored fish in its mouth could only screech loudly as it was launched dozens of meters away.

Ni Xong dropped to the sand below completely exhausted. Xiurong skittled over to him and rubbed her claw on his head.

'Not as weak as I thought.' She complimented.

'Yeah, you were awesome Xong!' Quon agreed.

'Thanks...' He struggled to say before going unconscious.

Xiurong threw the little cub on top of her shell and walked over to the mass of blue butterflies that were encircling Wan Qing. She propped him down next to it and got to work on eating the bodies that littered the desert sand red. As a pregnant crab, she wasn't eating just for one. She was eating for a couple hundred. Quon helped her a bit by eating some of the birds himself but he was eating for one so he didn't eat nearly as many as Xiurong did. It would still be helpful for his cultivation if he ate as many as he could stomach.

Spirit beasts passively cultivate through the qi naturally flowing throughout the world. This is why wild beasts tend to seek out places with higher concentration of qi in the air so that they can cultivate even faster. But this wasn't the only way spirit beasts grew in cultivation. The main way was preying on other spirit beasts and devouring their cores! Every spirit beast grows a beast core when they reach the first stage of cultivation.

As the source of their qi and blood essence, this naturally grown bead was a beast's most important organ. It was the only organ that could gather qi naturally. It is no surprise that this bead also holds immense value to cultivators either. These beast cores can provide a multitude of benefits if utilized correctly. This was why even the weakest of spirit beasts were valued throughout the cultivating world. A beast core from beast at the first stage would sell enough to allow a poor mortal family to rise into aristocracy in one leap.

Spirit beast are somewhat superior to cultivators in the way they cultivate. They cultivate as both as body and qi cultivators without needing to do anything special besides eating things filled with qi. Their bodies are just made in a way that they progress physically and spiritually at the same time during cultivation. Humans only naturally acquire qi when they cultivate, forcing them to rely on other methods of gaining ways to strengthen their physical bodies.

* * *

Bing's nose suddenly started twitching before his eyes opened wide.

"Food's done!" He yelled excitedly.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	92. A Nice Picnic In The Desert & A Surprise

"I guess you were right leaving it to the spirit beasts. They really did a good job protecting the food." Bing munched down on a cooked fish.

"Yep. They're really reliable. It might take additional resources to raise them properly along with giving them the love and care they need as living creatures but it is rewarding." Lei Zhi said as he bit into his own fish.

"I couldn't handle a spirit beast of my own. I already need so many resources as a cultivator that trying to share some of that with a pet would actually hurt my own cultivation speed." Bing responded back.

"That's a normal issue for those thinking about becoming beast masters. You aren't alone in thinking that kind of way Bing. Taking care of a pet that will become your lifelong partner isn't an easy task." Lei Zhi rubbed Xiurong's shell as he said this.

"Blirp?" Quon asked for attention as well. Lei Zhi rubbed his squishy large head too, causing him to make a strange sound that reminded Bing of a vibrating squid.

How? He wouldn't be able to explain either. It's just one of those sounds that seems like it would make sense if described in this exact way. Could you explain that weird sound he just heard from a creature that's not even supposed to be able to breathe on land?

"What made you pick up Ni Xong, Qing?" Bing asked curiously.

"His future potential." She answered bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Lei Zhi wanted to know more.

"His mother was a strong spirit beast that needed several talented cultivators to kill. His specific race as a Golden Panda seems to be inherently blessed with powerful vitality. It takes a lot to seriously wound them." She explained while looking at her specific golden panda. He was peacefully eating a fish with his paws and sitting next to Bing.

"A normal cultivator would raise him just to use his body as material to aid their cultivation. I'm surprised you would decide to raise him as a pet. I heard Golden Pandas are very valuable on the market." Lei Zhi shared.

"I'm surprised as well." She muttered.

Wan Qing initially did plan to use the cub's body to further her own growth at first. He was very valuable to Alchemists and they would pay money out of their savings to get a hold on any single one of his body parts. It would be enough to pay for a spirit ring and give her enough resources to safely cultivate for a while. So, when did she start to actually care for the little annoyance?

Wan Qing didn't know. It's easier to say that the bear grew on her like a parasite but that would be a lie. Wan Qing never had a pet to take care of before. When she was young, it was only her and her many sisters. She was the youngest out of all of them and was basically raised by them. She guessed that since it was her first time ever taking care of someone else, she grew attached. Even if they were a snotty, weak, and annoying little cub. Well, that's what made sense to her anyway.

"Ror!" Ni Xong suddenly realized something as he was almost finished eating his fish. He looked at everyone else eating but noticed something about his owner.

He got up from the ground and ran over to Wan Qing. He said something to her in bear language before handing her his half-eaten fish. She was the only person not eating! He didn't mind sharing his fish with her as there were a lot more fishes to eat.

"Disgusting..." She muttered under her breath looking at the slobbery, ripped, and teared fish. "Get that thing out of my face." Wan told him.

Seeing her refuse his fish must mean that she wasn't hungry. He smiled and went back over to where he was sitting to delightfully finish his food.

"Do you want any food Wan Qing? You're free to take some not already eaten." Bing asked her.

"They are quite delicious. Much better than anything at the sect, I can tell you that for sure." He expressed happily.

This aroused Wan Qing's appetite and curiosity just a bit. The aroma coming from the delicacies were indeed tempting along with watching everyone eating them with such relish made her wonder if it was really as good as they were making it out to be. But she refused to ask for any. She really wasn't that hungry in the first place.

"I'm fine." She coldly replied.

"Heh... you kids can never just be honest with yourselves sometimes." Lei Zhi muttered to himself. Qing reminded him of Ying in a way. Sometimes she just couldn't be honest either because of her pride or whatever. Pride was such a useless thing in Lei Zhi's opinion when you couldn't be who you wanted to be because of it.

He walked over and placed down a bowl with several medium-sized fishes next to her.

"Take it as a gift. For saving us so many times during the Great Tower." Lei Zhi said in a way that hopefully would get her to accept it.

"What part of-" Her defensive reply was interrupted as Bing came over as well with some food.

He placed down a large metal bowl with several large sized fishes cooked to perfection inside it. The combined smell of the fishes went directly into Wan Qing's nose, awakening her hunger and her stomach. A great growl escaped from her stomach, reddening her face and absolutely ruining the situation for her.

"I like to thank you as well. Without you, Lei and I definitely wouldn't have made it this far in the Great Tower." Bing thanked.

"Tch. I guess at this point, I don't really have a choice but to accept it." She dragged both bowls towards herself before an irritated look appeared on her face.

Ni Xong came over for a second time after seeing what Lei Zhi and Bing did. This time he brought a bowl with all half-eaten fishes inside. He thanked her for taking care of him all this time in panda dialect and placed the bowl down in front of her.

"How much do you people think I eat!?" She yelled, quite embarrassed but also a bit happy.

* * *

"Hoo boy. You all set up quite the surprise party for me." Hu Tao whistled in surprise.

Around him were several cultivators from the many factions in the Inner Court. A good majority of them were above his current cultivation stage. They all glared at him with gazes that filled him with excitement. This was going to be a hell of a fight.

"You've stepped out of line, Hu Tao." Hop, the leader of the Heavenly Collectors, said.

"Gotten a bit too big for your own britches, haven't ya?" Lok, the leader of the Mountain Crushers, chuckled.

"A filthy mutt like yourself should be proud that we took the time to plan something like this for you." Fan, the leader of the Righteous Demons, arrogantly told him.

"It is an honor that someone like you don't deserve." Zong Ying, the leader of the Great Heavens, spoke.

"To think that a bunch of pussies got scared of my godly talent. I guess I killed too many of ya, haven't I?" Hu Tao was drenched with magical treasures all over his body.

His new strength thanks to Jing plus his own talent and efforts, allowed him to thrive in the Great Tower. He was like an unrestrained beast in paradise as he did whatever he wanted during the floors and was rewarded for his efforts by the Tower. This led to many fearing him, envying him, and mimicking him. Eventually it got to the point where his strength was rising too quickly and it frightened certain people.

He was already naturally talented in martial arts and fighting itself. If his power was improved even further, there was no telling what he could possibly do if given enough time. This was why they all decided to deal with this threat now before he could threaten them in the future. Especially since he refused to join any of their factions for certain reasons. His offer to be the slave of whoever defeated him has passed. It could no longer be claimed which meant he was useless to them alive. If he couldn't be reasoned with, he had to be put down.

"Kill him." Zong ordered.

All of Lok's men charged towards Hu Tao. Their bodies were strong and mighty, only consisting of muscle, more muscle, and hair. Hop's men followed behind Lok's with their tamed spirit beasts and Fan's demons disappeared their way through the crowd like trained assassins. Zong's followers encircled around Hu Tao and the other factions. They effectively cut off all means of escape and made sure that Hu Tao died the dog death he was meant to die.

"Hahaha! Come on! This Daddy won't hold back with such a fantastic surprise! If you die, don't curse me in your next life! I need my record spotless when I go back in the reincarnation cycle!" Hu Tao's unleashed his full power.

His entire being became one with lightning and thunder. The chains wrapped around his figure transitioned into lightning, lightning crackled and jumped with electricity behind his eyes, and the large mane he called hair glowed with a bright red glow that spiked up like a hedgehog's quills. He laughed manically as red lightning danced all over his figure before soon, completely vanishing from his previous spot. And this certain death battle for Hu Tao began with the sound of dozens of men and women screaming from Hu Tao's initial attack.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A nice little moment with Bing, Lei Zhi, and Wan Qing. I definitely gotta show moments like these more with the gang actually bonding and getting to know each other. In the next arc after this, i hope to really connect these characters together with their many different personalities. But i don't really see that happening too deeply. Not until we reach like 2 or 3 arcs after this where we finally leave the sect and Jing's crew see the big cultivating world for themselves.

Besides that we got Hu Tao's karma finally catching up to him. Will this be the end of our villainous rouge? With all these powerful factions and characters, how could he possibly survive against them all? One man versus hundreds with a majority of them being several stages higher than himself!

After this chapter, we're with Jing again.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	93. Reaching The Tower

Jing, Li Li, and Wenling arrived at the entrance of the Great Tower. Jing was quite impressed looking at the tower up close. She had to force herself to look up to really take in the greatness of the structure. It rose far into sky and penetrated past the clouds.

"Some say that the Great Tower pierces into the Heavens themselves." Wenling shared also taking in the beauty.

"With how old this thing is, I'm not surprised that it has such legends about." Jing replied.

"Do you know what lies at the top of the tower?" Wenling asked with a cheeky grin.

"No. I knew absolutely nothing about the Treasured Plains before I came inside here. There wasn't any information written about it anywhere inside the sect." Jing answered.

Hu Tao was literally no help when she tried to find out information for the Treasured Plains. The mutt's brain was like a walnut when it came to anything not related to fighting. That was starting to change a small amount after his near-death experience with a 9th stage Qi Consolidator. Hu Tao started sending her messages about those he killed and a small amount of information regarding them or the people around them.

Jing was surprised at the important details he managed to sniff out from these people before they died or when he targeted them. Hu Tao could use his brain when he wanted to. He had surprisingly sharp senses when it came to finding out critical information about people. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Hu Tao was currently the best at information gathering out of her entire group so far, results wise.

Maybe she could use the Wolfeng Gang to fix that in the future... They'll be her group for gathering information, possibly selling it to certain powerful people, and other matters. If things stayed the way they were now, it would be quite hard for Jing to singlehandedly take over control of the Wolfeng Gang. Despite being filled with rapists, murderers, and all sorts of other terrible scum, the Wolfeng Gang share an unexplainable bond with one other. Even if they can't see eye to eye with each other or share the same passions with another member, they have a core belief that they all share together. They have something that holds and keeps them together as a group.

It isn't a lie to say that Jing is somewhat jealous of that bond that they all share. Something like that can't be forced or made intentionally. It's something that happens by chance and with great leadership. Jing hopes to one day have her followers share a similar link. But that day would be a long time from now. She still has several other basic steps as a leader that she's yet to accomplish with them. But once the Plains are over, it is time for a new beginning in how she will lead her group.

"It's said that once you reach the top of the tower, you will be granted any wish you desire." She smiled.

"Any wish?" Jing wanted clarification.

"Any wish in the world." She clarified. "It's said that our own Sect Leader reached the top of the tower and gained a wish that allowed them to rise to the top in one fell swoop. The Golden Serpent Sect wasn't always part of the Three Great Sects we know today. A few hundred years ago, the Golden Serpent Sect didn't even exist. Back then it was solely the Nine Swords Sect and the Blossoming Water Palace. But then all of a sudden, our sect leader came out of nowhere and took on both the sect leaders of the Nine Swords Sect and the Blossoming Water Palace in a duel. Our sect leader managed to match both of them in strength despite them teaming up on them. After that match, it is said our sect leader began to make the Golden Serpent Sect." Wenling shared.

"How do you know all this?" Jing asked bluntly.

From what she knew, Wenling didn't seem like the historic type. Nor did Jing believe that she was educated at all. Her first name was literally the word Little. She couldn't have come from an educated background and ended up as a bandit somehow.

Just as she was thinking this, Jing quickly put a stop to those types of thoughts. It wouldn't do well for her to assume anything about Wenling just because of the small amount of time they spent together. She would just be falling into the same routine she had before with that monkey. Jing had to change something deep inside her that made her want to underestimate and believe she knew everything about a person just because she had information on them. If she didn't, it wouldn't be long before she dies from her own ignorance.

"Surprised?" Wenling grinned. "Back when I was a little girl, I regularly hung outside the school in my city and secretly listened in to the teacher's teachings. My family couldn't pay lessons for me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and get myself some free knowledge." She proudly stated while puffing out her sizeable chest.

"Did you want to learn that much?" Jing asked. She herself knew that knowledge was power but did these people who valued strength and face so much, also know?

"Well, all my friends back then were in the class. I hated feeling left out whenever they talked about what they learned in school when we were playing together. So, I didn't really care about learning until I got older really. I liked the feeling of knowing stuff that other people didn't. I liked learning about things I had no idea about. It felt like my world was enlarging every day." Wenling said with passion in her voice.

"I misjudged you entirely. I apologize." Jing told her before walking inside the Great Tower.

"Huh? Wait, what do you mean?! How did you think of me before!? You're still my apprentice remember?! You have to respect me!" Wenling quickly followed behind Jing.

The two of them came face to face with several hundreds of eyes watching them come inside. Jing's eyes were immediately drawn to two people and a certain group with one sweep of her eyes. Tang Wuying and Gong Jun being crowded by several girl cultivators with Tang having an annoyed look on his face and Gong with a gentle smile on his. Their group started hollering and yelling once they arrived and quickly came scrambling towards them in excitement.

Jing noticed one thing in particular about them all. They all had different colored lotuses on top of their heads.

"Commander! You're alive!"

"Sweet heavens above, Jing is alive too!"

"Last time we saw ya, you had a gaping hole in your gut!"

"How the fuck are you alive!?"

"I got lucky." She replied mildly.

"Yeah, no shit! Holy fuck, I can't believe you two bastards are still alive." Ears said, stepping up front.

"Sounds like you're eager to replace me, Vice Commander." Wenling grinned as she crossed her arms.

"I wouldn't dream of it. You don't know how glad I am to see you still alive." He shared honestly.

"I'm glad to be back." She responded back. "But uh... what's with the new look? Did you all fall in love with some Fearsome Garden girls? Why do you all have flowers on your heads?" She wanted to know.

"The fucking vice commander fucking gave it to us."

"Piece of shit infected all of us with his stupid lotus."

"Bald asshole couldn't keep it to himself and had to spread his plant shit to us."

"Oi! Do you fucking bastards want to die!? You think I tried to do this?! I can't control this fucking thing! You keep talking shit and I'll fucking kick all your asses!"

"You wanna test that Vice Commander?" Du Zihao asked with his lightning blade sparking on his back.

"It's us vs you. You still think you stand a chance against all of us?" Scars spoke, feeling confident in their group's new strength. The lotus also boosted their strengths just like it did for the Vice Commander.

They gained a lot ever since Jing teleported them into that treasure room. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Wenling's squad was the most decked out group out of all the groups here. They had enough magical treasures and gold accessories on them that they could be mistaken for rich young masters. That was also why everyone's eyes were greedily eyeing them. Ears and Wenling knew that they would be the biggest target around for quite some time with this much loot on them. And since they didn't have storage rings, it was impossible to hide most of it.

"Cocky little bastards huh? Alright! Commander Guotin hasn't been satisfied with some of you lazy bums anyway. I'll beat you bastards into shape until you're all black and blue." He cracked his knuckles.

"You can have your roughhousing session when we get to the first floor. For now, hold it in." Wenling told them. "We have a couple guests coming towards us." Their rivals walked towards them with their own small groups equal in size to Wenling's.

The Huan clan and the Fearsome Garden.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	94. The Wolfeng Gang's Arrival

"I hope you didn't come over here just to spout nonsense." Wenling told the two.

"Shut your mouth, whore." Song, one of the three Roses of the Fearsome Garden, retorted.

"You all had quite the lucky break." Chaun, one of Leng Huan's closest men, said while greedily staring at their loot.

"What about it?" Wenling responded, ignoring Song.

"Nothing, I was just stating an observation." Wenling could already see him dreaming about wearing their loot.

"Don't get too big of a head, Cow. You dirty bandits won't live long enough to enjoy your magical treasures anyway." Song spat.

"Does someone hear a crying child somewhere?" Wenling dug in her ears while avoiding direct eye contact with Song. Some of the bandits laughed.

"Just wait till we get on the first floor. I'll shatter you to pieces!" Song angrily huffed away while her squad followed behind her in silence.

"I suppose I should be going as well. Be careful Bandits." He flashed a fake smile and left with his clan following behind him.

Wenling turned around to face them.

"I don't think I need to tell you all that everyone is going to come after us." She told them.

"That's right!"

"Any son of bitch trying to take my loot is getting a fucking sword through his gut!"

"I'll kill anyone that tries to touch my shit!"

"That's what I like to hear. Look out only for ourselves and kill anyone wanting to steal our well-earned treasures!" Wenling shouted.

Jing didn't get caught up in the Wolfeng Gang's morale booster. Instead she was taking note of all the participants that's going on the first floor with them. Checking out who was the most dangerous, who would bring the most benefit to her, and who could be an obstacle to them. It didn't need to be said that Jing would ensure the safety of the Wolfeng Gang member's magical treasures. One of her missions from the system was to strengthen the gang until they matched the Huan clan in power.

This would be difficult as the highest staged cultivator in the Wolfeng Gang was at the 9th stage and the highest staged cultivator in the Huan clan was at the 4th stage of the Qi Consolidation realm. But it wasn't impossible. Thankfully, there wasn't a time limit to the mission saying that she had to make them strong enough to match the Huan clan before the Plains ended. If it did, then she'd have to resort to drastic measures with SCP-914.

Jing didn't want to rely on SCP-914 in that way. Increasing someone's power directly wouldn't be helpful in the long run. This was one of the reasons why she gifted her followers martial art techniques and weapons mainly. Her followers would need to learn about their gifts and train with them. Even Jing herself practices her martial arts daily, knowing that she couldn't rely on the SCP's to do everything for her. She didn't want that type of strength anyway, relying on someone or something else to do things for her? No, she'd rather get involved and take control of the situation for herself.

'Oh yeah, I do have some unused tickets don't I?' Jing suddenly remembered.

She finished two missions before meeting that monkey. Killing 100 beings with SCP-109 and letting 100 cultivators witness SCP-109 infinite generation of water. It looks like the system counted the peering eyes of the elders for the second mission. Jing guessed that it wasn't without some benefits of having the elders watch her.

The first mission rewarded her with 5 rare tickets, 1 high-ranked spirit stone, and a purifying qi pill. The second one gave Jing 5 more rare tickets and a body strengthening pill. They were all stored in her inventory since they came from the system and not herself. Jing wasn't able to store anything in her inventory that wasn't gained from the system first. It wasn't explained why she wasn't able to place things in her inventory but Jing wasn't too bothered by it. Her refined storage ring could carry anything she wanted it to.

As Jing was about to place her tickets into the system's gacha wheel, the door to the first floor opened up.

"Hello? Earth to Jing?" Wenling waved her hand in her face, slightly irritating Li Li. Jing's attention was redirected to Wenling's violet eyes.

"Let's move." Jing moved ahead and walked towards the white door.

She decided to use the tickets later. She would have to focus on keeping these bandits alive for a while. It wouldn't be easy to split her focus on the system and all the other cultivators around them. Jing led the gang forward as Wenling walked to the side of her with Ears behind them. They were among the first ones to enter inside.

Jing sensed something in the sky above them and it seems everyone else did as well since they looked up in the sky with her. The clouds were shaped into words telling them how to clear this floor. Jing read the simple objective within seconds and began to think about what her strategy should be for clearing this task. As she was thinking, she threw four talismans around Wenling's squad and activated a movement formation that immediately teleported them on top of the front wall.

"Whoa!" The sudden movement spell surprised them all.

"Holy shit!"

"I think I'm falling! Someone grab me!" Scars was tipping over the edge of the wall.

"Save yourself idiot! Hahaha." A few bandits laughed at his pathetic expression while others calmed their stomachs from the sudden spatial change.

Scars fell over the edge and in his panic channeled all the qi within his body. The small green colored lotus on his head rapidly grew and mutated into some sort of monster plant and latched onto the edge of the wall with its plant jaws. Scars frantically reached for the edge and hoisted himself back up only to meet the surprised looks of his fellow bandits.

"How the fuck did you just do that?"

"Thanks for the help assholes! Really appreciate it! Don't count on me helping you guys for anything." Scars angrily replied.

"We were obviously gonna save ya you pissy little girl."

"Shove it up your ass!" His transformed lotus snarled at them.

"Oi, you stupid fucker. How did you make your lotus change into that thing?!"

"What are you shitty pricks talking about?" Scars took out his sword and used the sword's shiny exterior to see what was on his head.

"Whoa! What the fucking fuck!?" He jumped in fright.

"Yeah! That's what we're saying!"

"Tch, what a lucky bastard..." Ears cursed.

"Vice Commander, do you know what's going on?" Du Zihao, the lightning blade bandit, asked.

"Yeah, I do. And I wished I could've kept this secret to myself for a bit longer. But thanks to this stupidly lucky bastard, I guess I'll tell you bastards what I found out." Ears spoke up.

Jing and Wenling were also interested. Jing had no idea how or why the lotus changed. She only thought it was capable of taking over bodies and strengthening them. It looks like there was more it could do that it didn't do with the rabbit they killed before. Everyone watched as Ears flared his qi outward.

From his body, numerous leaves flew out and began to swirl around him. Ears seemed to be able to control them with just his qi alone. They flew around in the way that he wanted, ignoring the wind blowing around them. These leaves were made out of his qi and controlled by his qi. Ears swiped his hands through the twirling leaves and fashioned two daggers out of them, showing that his control over them wasn't limited to just what he showed earlier.

"The lotus doesn't only make you physically stronger. With enough time and practice, eventually it will gift you a specific cultivation technique. It isn't something that you'll be able to read though. The plant feeds it to you like a mama bird would to its chicks but through your brain instead of your mouth. The cultivation technique my lotus gave me, allowed me to do what I just showed you all." Ears told them only the basics.

"How the hell do we practice?" Someone asked.

"Cultivate, shit for brains. The lotus makes you more sensitive to nature qi. The more you understand about nature qi, the closer you'll be to getting the cultivation technique. My understanding came from watching the leaves during our way to the Great Tower. I guess that lucky bastard got his from some man-eating plant."

"I almost got ate by an Emerald Pitcher Plant." Scars informed.

"That'll do it." Ears understood instantly.

"Emerald Pitcher Plant?" Jing asked.

'It's a big green plant thing that wants to eat beasts and tastes disgusting.' Li Li explained through their soul link.

Li Li has seen them eating beasts of various sizes when looking for breakfast. He was too smart to be tricked by their delicious smelling inner juices though. He only knew they tasted nasty because he tried to find out if they tasted as good as they smelled, not because he was tricked and almost got eaten by one or two. Definitely not. He also found out that no Emerald Pitcher Plants had the same aroma.

"A shitty plant that smells so delicious that you'll want to crawl inside it and get digested by it on purpose." Zian explained.

"It's rumored that Emerald Pitcher Plants use a special type of qi that muddles the brain and makes it easier for their prey to get eaten by them." Wenling shared happily.

"Hmm, interesting. I'll need to learn more about the plants and animals." Jing said, thinking of the pitcher plants with a sharp glint in her eyes.

"Alright boys! Get to building some defenses for this wall! We won't survive with just our strength alone!" Wenling ordered.

"I'll handle it. You all just make sure you don't die in the meantime." Jing hopped off the front wall all the way down.

She landed perfectly on her feet this time with little internal injuries and began setting up various formations to protect their wall.

'This should be a cakewalk.' Jing thought.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It looks like the Wolfeng Gang has a big target on their back already! How will Jing handle the first floor of the Great Tower in comparison to Hu Tao from the earlier chapters? Will it really be a cakewalk? Or will there be unexpected troubles for our protagonist?

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	95. Setting Up Formations

Now that Jing has no reason to hold herself back, there are quite a few things she can try out now. The mastery of array making is one of those things. Jing is genuinely interested in the art of spells. There were some spells that Jing couldn't practice except in the privacy of her own home or far away from anyone's eyes. Those spells usually lied within the harming category. The harming spells were spells meant for only one thing, harming. Jing's fake personality did not fit with this type in the slightest.

That was why she didn't use a talisman or array from the harming spell section even once under that personality. Not even when she was training with Elder Lang. Jing actively refused to learn about harming spells even though Lang believed it would be safer for her to at least gain some knowledge about it rather than completely refusing to learn anything about it. It was actually smart of him to suggest that. Inwardly, Jing completely agreed with him.

If you are going to master a particular field, then you should at least know about most things of that field. Choosing to be willfully ignorant about something that can only help you is stupidity in its finest in Jing's opinion. More knowledge is better. Having less knowledge is dangerous and a risk.

That was why Jing's tasks for her followers mostly focused on gaining information about someone or something. She rarely gave them tasks similar to the ones she gave them before the start of the Treasured Plains. Before the Plains, Hu Tao was the only one who ever Jing gave out assassination tasks to. Killing, fighting, and causing general mayhem was his forte. It would be a waste using him for matters that required thinking, intellect, or other qualities that Hu Tao had no talent in. Spotting the strengths and weaknesses of her followers is something that Jing has to master if she wants to become a great leader.

So far, she's only mostly understood Hu Tao and that isn't much of an achievement considering who he is as a person. Through these tasks, she hopes to find out more about her followers' strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. It'll be easier to choose what tasks are suited for who if she does this. It will also help her understand their limits if they can or cannot deal with the task given.

'Mom.' Li Li spoke out, suddenly taking her attention back to the first floor of the Great Tower.

Li Li grabbed an arrow by the shaft with his talons and glared at the one who dared to shoot it at his mom.

"Ah, thank you Li Li. My mind was elsewhere for the moment." Jing said, turning her head to the one who tried to kill her.

Jing threw a talisman towards the cultivator that shot that arrow at her. The cultivator didn't even have the chance to dodge as it seemed like Jing threw the slip as quick as lightning! The small slip of paper struck his chest and it must be said that he was all the way on the left side of the wall staring down on her. The size of the wall shouldn't be underestimated! If a cultivator were to fall from that height, they would still die even if they used qi to protect themselves. Jing only survived because her qi was massive compared to most. It takes more force to break and wear down her qi barrier but it also rapidly consumes her qi at the same time.

The cultivator who tried to kill her from the left side of the wall disappeared and reappeared in front of her completely confused. Once he noticed who he was in front of, he tried striking her with his wooden bow. Only to have it get ripped apart by Li Li's foot. Li Li wanted to rip him into pieces, but he had a feeling that his mother wanted to handle it herself.

And his feeling was right. Jing did plan to deal with this brave young man herself. To have the courage to aim at her personally and almost succeed in hitting her when her attention was taken? His skill with the bow wasn't bad and his judgement in choosing her to shoot wasn't wrong either. It was just that he picked the wrong opponent to try handle at his level. The archer was a 9th stage just like her.

"Don't die too quickly. It'll be more enjoyable for me if you try your hardest to survive." Jing pulled out a weapon that she hasn't used in quite some time and wrapped it around the throat of the bowman.

He gripped at his neck with both of his hands trying to pull the whip off. It was tightly wrapped around his windpipe and he could barely breathe! The archer had no way of resisting as Jing pulled him through the air straight towards her. The bow wielding cultivator tried using his qi to relieve the stress on his throat, but relief came in another way than the one he was expecting.

Jing kicked him across the face as he came towards her and launched him inside one of the formations, she set up for the beast tide. The force of her kick broke his nose on impact but he found comfort when he realized at least he could breathe now, somewhat. He violently coughed as he found himself in some sort of pink formation. It was a box-shaped formation, there was nowhere for him to escape as all his exits were blocked by incredibly tough qi barriers.

She was definitely in a different league from him even though they were at the same stage. That black girl must be in between the 1st stage of the Qi Consolidation realm and the 9th stage of the Qi Gathering realm to overpower him this badly. What an unlucky circumstance... Choosing this unknown talented disciple to try and kill for points.

"You should pay attention behind you." Jing softly smiled.

His qi sensed an identical feeling qi behind him and his sense for danger immediately spiked. The archer cultivator rolled over to the side and looked at what was just fired at him with shock. It was a barbed arrow just like his own! Who the hell would use the same type of specialized arrows as himself?! He looked at the figure who fired the familiar arrow and gasped in shock.

"Let's see if you can overcome yourself and break past your limits." Jing chuckled as his copy used a special bow technique and rapidly fired arrows to kill the real one.

This was normally a simple earth-ranked illusion formation but the one Jing was using was quasi sky-ranked. It's called the Mirror Formation. Most used the basic version as defense against thieves, burglars, and other sorts trying to steal important belongings from them. They hired a licensed spellmaster to set up the formation and if any thieves entered inside the array, they would be forced to fight in a life or death battle with an exact copy of themselves. 9 times of out 10, the thief would be found dead killed by their doppelganger.

A small percentage of cultivators used this as a way of training themselves to break through to the next stage. Not many cultivators did this as the risk of death was far too high. It would be like paying to have someone equal in strength to you, fight you in a life or death battle, instead of something resembling training. The thing with this formation was, once you were trapped inside, you could not leave until you or your duplicate was dead. Even Jing was a little bit frightened to test this thing out for herself. She didn't know everything she was capable of yet and didn't want to find out by being completely dominated by a shadow that couldn't even think. Eventually she'll give a try but for now, it was too early.

The shadow completely mirrored the one who fell inside the array. All the martial arts they learned, special techniques, weapons, magical treasures, and there was even a higher version of it that replicated bloodlines as well. Jing was using that specific version just to be careful. Her knowledge on bloodlines are insufficient, to be honest. There could be dozens of cultivators with special bloodlines that could easily deal with her as far as she knows. None of her followers even have a special bloodline.

But now that that issue was dealt with, Jing got back to setting up even more formations for the incoming beast swarm. This time with a bit more focus on her surroundings rather than her thoughts. Setting up multiple arrays like this was quite a bit of work. Jing was glad that nearly anything could be used as a base to create formations and not a specific resource like spirit stones or something on that level. A simple rock, a piece of paper, anything that's solid was a viable choice for the formation's base. Most, if not all, spellmasters used sturdy materials as their base so that it would be harder to destroy. The bad part about these sturdy materials was that they usually cost an arm and a leg to purchase or gain.

Jing had an advantage with her materials. All she had to do was refine them with SCP-914 and normally they were better than any other base available on the market. There were some cases where they were still able to be destroyed with sufficient force even when she refined them intentionally to be unbreakable or undestroyable. Before, she thought it was just a mistake that she made herself. But now, she realizes that it's because the very fine dial on SCP-914 isn't almighty and can't do everything. Which also means that Bing, Ying, Hu Tao, Lei Zhi, and Wan Qing's weapons weren't indestructible like she planned them to be.

"I guess that means my whip isn't either huh?" Jing muttered as she consciously dodged a thrown rusty sword aimed at her eye.

Li Li waved his right wing and multiple high-speed feathers were sent straight towards the cultivator that tried to hurt his mother. The feathers hit their target and stabbed deeply into the cultivator's face. Causing him to panic and scream from the pain before stumbling off the top of the wall and falling to his death.

"Thanks son." Jing peacefully smiled.

'Hmph! He got off lucky.' Li Li scoffed.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: No more holding back or hiding guys! Just like ya wanted! The next thing you guys said you wanted was more interaction with the system and SCP's. I'm basically finished with the Treasured Plains arc in my backup chapters so, i can tell you to expect the system stuff and SCP's for after this arc.

I want you guys to know i'm always reading the comments for suggestions, criticism, opinions. So feel free to drop em when ya want.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	96. Using Rare Tickets

"Haven't you guys noticed anything different about Jing?" Wenling brought up.

"I haven't noticed anything." Ears replied.

"Did she change her hair?"

"It's probably that whip she pulled out. She didn't have that whip before."

"What whip? You can actually see her from up here?!"

"You can't?" Du Lin asked.

"I guess we found our next scout for when the Vice Commander kicks it." The bandits laughed.

"You little bastards really like pushing me huh?" Ears stood up and cracked his fists.

With a twitch of his leafy lotus, Ears swayed his head to side and avoided a speedy projectile from behind him. The bandits stood up with their weapons at the ready after seeing someone attempting to take their Vice Commander's life. Ears turned around feeling even more pissed than before.

"Which one of you sorry bastards had the balls to try and attack me?" He asked with a dark look on his face.

"Wolfeng Gang. It looks like you are having trouble carrying all that expensive weight on yourselves. Let us lighten your loads for you." A well-dressed handsome white-haired young man spoke.

Behind him were several other cultivators wielding sharp and dangerous weapons. There wasn't a single one of them that didn't have their eyes filled with greed. The Wolfeng Gang were surprised by these shameless assholes. They didn't even care about protecting their sides of the wall and came straight towards them!

"Quit pussy footing around it like a couple of bitches. You're here to steal our shit, right?" Ears bluntly spoke.

"As junior brothers and sisters, how could we dare think of stealing something from our fellow disciples? No, no, no. All we want is to help you."

"Yeah, you guys look pretty burdened by all those magical treasures on you."

"It would be a shame if you lost your lives in the upcoming beast wave and all those shiny accessories and weapons were lost in it."

"It would be better if you let us hold on to at least 75% of all your stuff. Just as a safety precaution."

The Wolfeng Gang all looked at each other before bursting out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

"I've never heard so much bullshit spill out of someone's mouth." Ears stated.

"If I wasn't so handsome, I'd be sure you all wanted to fondle my balls and kiss me on my cheek talking like that." Zian laughed.

"If you're going to try and rob us, at least don't try and lie so fucking obviously." Du Zihao chuckled.

"Pompous little pricks that can't help talking with that flowery tone. Your ancestry has had their head in their ass so far, it passed on down to you shit heads."

Wolfeng Gang's insults sent the opposing group into a fury. As if they've been thoroughly humiliated and are the victims of an unexpected aggravated assault.

"And here we were trying to be nice to you savages." The white-haired youth spat hatefully.

"Are you done speaking to my men anyway you want?" Wenling stood up and flared her qi in their direction.

The would-be robbers got chills when feeling that 9th stage Qi Gatherer's aura. They were starting to have doubts about attacking them so bravely without a 9th stage of their own. Maybe they should've attacked during the beast swarm like they discussed before. A few magical treasures would be lost but there would at least be some left for those that survived till the end. Everyone was thinking that they would be the lucky cultivator to get most of the treasures.

"Are you trying to scare someone with that pathetic amount of qi?" An 8th stage cultivator laughed.

Wenling and Ears were interested in what he meant. It sounded like they had someone able to take her on.

"Gen, show her what you're made of." The 8th stage Qi Gatherer proudly spoke.

The white-haired cultivator from before stepped up. He balled his fists once everyone's attention was on him. His body began to suddenly bulk up along with an increase in potency with his qi. He looked at the Wolfeng Gang like how a Lion would look at a bunny. He was the predator and they were his prey.

"Your power isn't bad..." Wenling complimented. "But if fights were determined only by the size of one's qi, there wouldn't be a point to fighting at all!" She said right after showing off her own supply of qi.

"Well said for a used whore. Now let's see how long your little bandit group can hold out!" He rushed towards the Wolfeng Gang as if he was a furious buffalo.

Both commanders of the Fearsome Garden and Huan clan watched the battle between the Wolfeng Gang and the unknown group of cultivators. They didn't have anything to do with the group but appreciated them nonetheless. It would be helpful for when they planned to launch their attack on the Wolfeng Gang. The two groups could analyze their strength and make a plan for anything that seems especially dangerous.

Jing didn't believe any of those cultivators attacking the Wolfeng Gang could kill any of their members thanks to the lotuses but just to be safe she sent Li Li on up while she finished forming these arrays in front of their wall. She told him to make sure none of them die. Li Li took this request in his own special way. Instead of actively stopping harm from coming their way, he only made sure to intervene when certain death was imminent. So, if someone happened to get a deep slash in their gut or chest, Li Li wouldn't do anything. However, if a sword was about to pierce through their heart or brain, that was when he would step in. Li Li didn't care too much about these people and only acted for them when his mother requested.

"Okay 10 rare tickets. Let's see what you'll bring me." Jing muttered to herself.

She placed her tickets in the gacha wheel one by one instead of using all 10 at once. She was sure it didn't make a difference but she preferred it this way.

**[Host has received Jade Sword]**

Not a good first spin... It was utterly useless as a reward. It wasn't even a spirit weapon or spirit tool. Just a sword made out of jade ore. She could snap this thing apart just by hitting it against a rock softly. Jing doubted it was even made for combat. Most likely a decorative sword for appearance or status.

"Well, on to the next one." Jing's spirits weren't dampened by pulling this garbage. She still had 9 tickets left.

**[Host has received Spirit Grass]**

This wasn't too good either but at least it was better than the jade sword. Spirit Grass was useful for feeding spirit beasts that lived on high-quality grass. They were easily growable if planted in good soil with decent spiritual qi in the surroundings. Jing had neither of these things though, so it was just as useless as the first reward but just a little less useless.

**[Host has received Low-Quality Spirit Stone]**

Jing didn't even bother complaining about this type of trash. She just put in another ticket and saw the giant wheel spinning inside her mind.

**[Host has received Low-Quality Spirit Stone]**

**"**Are you messing with me?" Jing eyes twitched. Her luck could not be this bad.

**[Host has received Low-Quality Spirit Stone]**

Jing lashed out with her whip and carved a giant gash into the grass in front of her. She couldn't believe this crap! Out of all the things the system could summon, it gave her these three things in a row?! The system is playing a prank on her. It has to be.

**[Host has received Mysterious Marshmallows]**

At least it wasn't another spirit stone... It turns out that these marshmallows were a part of the anomalous items grouping. This meant that the item wasn't important enough to gain an SCP listing like SCP-914, SCP-222, or SCP-353. But it still had strange abilities just like them. Most of the time it was really unimpressive but there were certain times when this wasn't the case. These mysterious marshmallows ignited the head of any individual that consumes them with a blue flame that reaches up to 100 degrees Celsius. Now these were the best so far. She could find a few uses for these sugary sweets in the future as the person that eats one of these will be immune to the blue fire coating their head.

**[Host has received Perfect Recovery Pill]**

**"**Worthless." Jing could create recovery pills that were capable of healing someone submerged in lava.

A perfect recovery pill would be able to treat almost any life-threatening injury. Missing limb, ruptured organs, severe blood loss, it could recover it all back to a perfect state. This type of recovery pill was priceless and would empty out a large cultivation family's treasury if they wanted to pay just for one pellet. It wasn't until recently that Jing learned of this fact. She had hundreds of pills that were better than perfect grade recovery pills just piled up in one of her storage rings.

Sitting on such a large capital stumped her on what she should do with the money. Suddenly being gifted with a massive amount of money would befuddle anyone. She'll have to think hard on how she would even be able to convert this into real funds, precautions to protect her identity, and like she said before, what to do with the money. Jing actually laughed a little once she realized that she was fretting over having too much money. She chose to think about this at a later time.

**[Host has received Low-Quality Spirit Stone]**

Jing had no words to express how quickly her good mood vanished when she saw the wheel's pointer land on that damn prize again. Now that she noticed it, that stupid prize was spread all over the gacha wheel! There wasn't anywhere on the wheel that she couldn't spot a low-quality spirit stone prize lurking nearby. What kind of crap was this?! Jing normally wasn't one to lose control over her emotions but there were so many things in this world that she could pull from her system. Why did these worthless spirit stones have to be the favored prize for the system?! Are rare tickets really worth only this much?

**[Host has received Jelly Skull]**

Jing actually didn't know how to react to this reward. A jelly skull? What use would this hold to anyone? Perhaps a child would find some fun out of this thing but she couldn't find any real use for it. Just a tasty treat in the form of a skull. Still useless.

**[Host has received SCP-106]**

Jing's eyes flashed with surprise, "Now this is something..."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hmm hmm hmm! For someone who says she doesn't normally lose control over her emotions, she certainly does lose it over trivial things. I wonder if Jing was someone much older before she came to this world or was the same age as she is now... JUST A THOUGHT!

Anyway. We got SCP-106. Big popular SCP here. Look forward to seeing what Jing will do with it! (Hint! You'll find out in like maybe 2 or 3 weeks lol)

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	97. Gorillas vs The Wolfeng Gang!

"Kill that Flaming Hairy Ape!" Ears shouted as he took on one of the three gorillas on his own.

"We're trying!" The Wolfeng Gang took on the second gorilla while the rest supported them.

"Commander! Do you need any help?!" Ears yelled.

"Focus on your own battle Vice Commander. Don't get distracted! These apes can't be underestimated!"

Ears had multiple leaves revolving around his figure. Two of his daggers were made out of nothing but leaves infused with his qi, enhancing its sharpness a small amount. He couldn't coat the blades for long, he mainly enhanced it for defending or attacking critical spots. If he strengthened it with his qi during the entire battle, his qi would be drained faster than ever. And if his qi runs out, it was death without a doubt.

"Alright, you monkey bastard. I haven't really had the chance to go all out ever since I got this shitty lotus on my head. You won't mind if I don't hold back, do you?" He asked before immediately dashing towards the spirit beast.

The gorilla wasn't some mindless animal. It has long since realized that it couldn't match the shiny headed human in speed. Once it saw that the human was coming towards it, it smashed its large fists against the ground to disrupt his movement. The ground creaked and groaned as it split apart into multiple pieces.

Ears was forced to jump into the air unless he wanted to be consumed by the earth itself and buried beneath the rocks. He braced himself as he saw the bastard coming towards him. It looks like it could think a bit more than your average gorilla if it could set him up like this so perfectly. The gorilla reached out with its large hand to grab him.

The Leaf headed young man stabbed one of his daggers into the monkey's palm and tried to stab the other into its throat but the ape countered in the craziest way. Ears watched as the ape bit down on his leafy dagger and chewed it whole. His arm was grabbed and subsequently crushed by the gorilla's powerful strength. He tried gritting his teeth so hard it felt like that were cracking to stop himself from letting out a pain-filled scream.

'I'm going to be made fun of for months for that one...' Ears thought somewhat ashamed.

His shame was quickly replaced with anger as he formed another dagger out of leaves into his only good hand. The ape dropped his broken arm and tried to punch him but he wasn't as quick as Ears was. Ears rapidly stabbed his dagger into the primate's arm, forcing it to release him. He wanted to get some distance but there wouldn't be a better chance than now to get in a good hit.

The injured baldy coated his leaf daggers with his qi without holding anything back. Ears moved forward with his entire 9th stage Qi Gathering energy flowing through his body and weapon. It was being drained at a rapid rate but if he didn't take this monkey out now, there was no one else who could. Those other bastards already have their hands full. How could he call himself their vice commander if he couldn't even take care of a dumb animal?

"You gave me a lot of trouble you ape bastard." Ears stood in front of the hairy beast. "Don't curse me after you're dead."

Ears's swirling leaves turned into sharp knives that sliced anything they came in contact with, even themselves. The sliced leaves only created more deadly projectiles to control. Wenling's right-hand man controlled the leaves and sent them stabbing right into the body of the gorilla. An uncountable amount of leaves pierced into the skin of the spirit beast. It gave a great roar of pain and raised its arms to crush down on Ear's small figure.

"About damn time..." Ears silently struck forward with his single leaf dagger.

He cursed as his arm violently thumped with pain while the gorilla fell backwards with a clean hole right through the middle of its wide neck.

"I hope Jing has some more of those healing spells on hand, I'm fucked up badly..." Ears murmured as he was completely out of qi.

* * *

"Put me the fuck out!" Scars cried while patting the fire out on his clothes.

"Put yourself out retard! We're kind of busy here!" Zian laughed even though he wasn't in the position to laugh.

He was fiercely holding hands with the Flaming Hairy Ape. With his strong physique, he was the only one capable of standing up to the spirit beast directly. But his strong body had its limits, he could feel the flesh on his hand burning. If this continued, his hands would definitely melt to the bone!

"Zihao! Cut this furry bastard up already!" Zian yelled gritting his teeth.

"I'm trying you ugly bastard!" Zihao lunged towards the ape's wide back to plunge his lightning sword through.

Only to see the monkey turning its head towards him after hearing the crackling of his blade and unleashing a powerful wave of fire from the fur on its back straight towards Zihao.

"Son of a bitch!" He cried out as his body was engulfed in flames.

"You owe me big for this asshole." Scars told him as his monster plant enlarged itself and grabbed Zihao with its mouth. It swallowed him whole and smothered the fire out with its digestive juices before spitting him back out on the ground.

"Son of a fucking bitch that was gross as hell! I think I would've preferred dying instead of experiencing that!" Zihao lied as he was covered in sticky green smelly plant saliva.

"Now's not the time guys! We gotta help Zian!" Du Lin interrupted the two and dashed towards the flaming monkey with his mortal-ranked spear.

He stabbed his weapon through the side of the ape's abdominal, giving Zian freedom to blow on his badly burnt hands and the other bandits to attack while the beast was roaring in pain.

"Thanks, Du Lin. I would've lost my hands for good if you didn't help me out there." Zian continued to blow on his burning hands.

"No problem big guy. You wouldn't have an extra spirit weapon on you, would you?" He asked as his spear was still lodged in the gorilla's side.

"Here, take this." He gestured towards his ass cheeks.

"Uh..." He wasn't sure what he wanted.

"It's in my pocket. Reach in there and grab that silver needle looking thing." He told him.

Du Lin did as he said and pulled out a small silvery staff. He infused his qi into the tiny object and nearly poked his eye out after it grew nearly ten times bigger!

"A spear without a point on the end?" He questioned.

"I found it in the treasure room and thought it would be a good present to give to Yang Mei. But if we don't kill this thing, I won't be able to make it back to her! Use it as you like bastard! Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks! I'll be sure to pay you back!" Du Lin ran off to help the other guys.

He arrived just in time to save Scars from being crushed to death by the fiery ape. The staff wielding bandit shoved his staff into Scar's side, knocking him away as he took his place. His staff didn't crumble under the beast's strong arms but he sure did. Du Lin's feet sank deep into the ground from its power along with breaking most of the bones in his arms.

"Haha holy shit man, just how strong are you?!" Zihao and 4 others stabbed their blades into the gorillia's undefended back before quickly jumping away with their weapons inside its flesh.

Another ally of theirs dragged Du Lin away before he was roasted alive by the beast's fiery explosive wave. The Wolfeng Gang surrounded the seriously wounded beast on its last legs. They could clearly see from its dripping blood and shaking body that it was on death door. But they also understood that a beast is most dangerous when its cornered. They calmly and patiently waited instead of attacking.

"It's a dumb animal. Let it make the first move and then kill it dead!"

"I never ate a gorilla before..."

"He doesn't look that tasty."

"Maybe his meat will be spicy!"

The Flaming Hairy Ape spat blood from its mouth and fainted out of angry after hearing the unbelievable comments of the Wolfeng Gang. It couldn't believe its killers would desecrate its body by eating it after its death! What foe would eat their opponent after a hard-fought battle!? It's simply insane!

"Guess we're eating good tonight boys. This was a big fella."

"Gotta eat what you can. My momma raised me to not waste a single drop of food!"

* * *

Wenling glared at Song and Chaun. This was definitely thought of by the two of them. Sending all three gorillas towards their side of the wall as a way of weakening them or to kill them. The gorillas wouldn't be interested in their loot at all. The biggest risk was some of their magical treasures being broken in the fight with the apes but that was negligible when thinking of the many others treasures that would be left on their corpses.

The dirty scumbags innocently smiled as a response to her glare. Wenling dodged the heavy fist of the gorilla as it believed she was distracted. She immediately countered by slicing its stomach with her glaive. Unfortunately, the cut wasn't deep enough to finish it but that didn't stop her from continuing her attack. She swung her glaive with deadly precision and speed. The gorilla was forced to block and cover its vital areas.

The gorilla realized this human wasn't so weak! If he wasn't careful, he could easily lose his life in just a single moment! Even when he faced off against both his younger brothers, he didn't feel this pressured. It was the first time in its life that it has ever been pushed onto the defensive!

This unfamiliar feeling made its chest feel stuffy. The gorilla wanted nothing more than to get rid of that feeling and the only way it could see that happening was to somehow stop this human female! He gathered all his qi into his arms before smashing the ground underneath him. The human managed to cut across his eye before backflipping away and out of the range of the cracking earth.

"Why do I feel stronger than before?" Wenling questioned.

It wasn't as if she had a breakthrough in her cultivation or martial art techniques lately. There was no reason why she should feel this good. Wenling thought about what has happened to her lately and could only think of one reason why she feels more powerful. It was the many life-threatening battles she survived while looking for Jing.

"I don't regret looking for you in the slightest Jing..." Wenling's qi shrunk in quantity.

Proud Commander of the Wolfeng Gang, Wenling, sharpened her internal energy and concentrated it into one point. The tip of her glaive. She grinned a confident grin as the gorilla beat on its chest and hollered from fear. She knew it could sense how dangerous this technique was. If it got hit by this polearm of hers, it was dead without a shred of hope for survival.

"You were a good opponent for me to find out my current limits with. I can see myself breaking into the Qi Consolidation stage without a problem now." And Wenling vanished.

By the time she reappeared, her glaive was sticking through the chest of the large spirit beast and out of its back. Its heart was hooked onto the tip of her halberd. Most of her weapon was inside the ape's body. She looked into the eyes of the qi constructed animal and marveled at how realistic it was. The Great Tower was such a fantastical and mysterious spirit tool that she doubted that anything could come close to rivaling it. Wenling closed the eyes of the fallen gorilla as respect for being a wonderful creation and helping her get used to her new power.

'Maybe I've come a bit closer to reaching Jianyu's strength...'

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just the Wolfeng Gang trying to survive this chapter.

Next chapter we'll be with Jing again till they beat this floor. After that i think we'll pov switch to one of Jing's other followers. I'll let you guys know friday maybe.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	98. Li Li's in Trouble!

Watching over the battlefield with Li Li didn't take too much work for Jing. They may have been conspired against by Fearsome Garden and the Huan clan along with some other unaffiliated cultivators but it wasn't as if all hope was lost. Her arrays were dealing with the hundreds of spirit beasts just as she planned. But things were going somewhat too smoothly if she didn't include the three gorillas being pushed onto their side of the wall. There had to be another card waiting to be played.

She kept her eyes on the left side of the wall while Li Li watched the right side of the wall. Keeping her senses on the ready to react to any new situations. She was sure that Song and Chaun were wondering why she was the only one not helping against the three gorillas. Jing thought it would be nice if they continued to ponder about it until the end of the floor but that would've been too convenient, wouldn't it?

Jing saw as both sides sent several cultivators to the front wall to try and destroy with her formations. They weren't any average bunch as they skillfully avoided getting trampled and swallowed by the beast wave. Jing was amused by the sight, she got in a more comfortable position by crossing her leg over her knee and observed them. She doubted they would be able to shatter her arrays but she was interested in what they had planned. They couldn't have come unprepared, she spent hours setting up those formations. The two groups had more than enough time to think of a plan to deal with them.

As far as she knew there was only one way of shattering her formations. Willingly going inside them and breaking the base inside the formation while also surviving against the specific formation's spell. Considering that she had more than a dozen of these arrays set up, it would be unthinkable to believe that they would try that. It was too risky and would take far too much time.

And she was right about them having a plan. One of the cultivators quickly moved to the front of the beast tide. He was able to sense exactly where her arrays were placed and avoided them without much trouble. Jing continued to watch him make his way in front of all the spirit beasts and pull out a brown flag from his storage ring.

"Beasts of the animal kingdom! Heed my call! Focus your attacks and rush to that wall! Together, you can't be stopped. Work together with me to bring down this wall! I beg of you!" The flag was releasing a special type of qi that seemed to flow into the brains of the spirit beasts.

"What an interesting spirit tool..." Jing muttered. "Li Li, do you mind going to get that flag for me?" Jing asked, only to notice Li Li was unresponsive.

"Li Li?" She looked onto her shoulder and saw his body was trembling badly.

Jing took Li Li off her shoulders and held him in her hands. The flag was affecting him too! She tried coating her hand in qi and slicing down on the strange qi flowing into his body but it did nothing to interrupt the connection. That scum dared to mess with her son's mind? She'll make sure to teach him a lesson he'll never forget. But first, she'll have to save Li Li somehow...

As Jing was thinking of ways to revert Li Li back to normal, the beast tide was slowly tearing through her formations. Formations that usually could only handle a specific number of beasts at a time were now being flooded with several and being shattered by the combined strength of the creatures. Most of the formations Jing set were harming and trapping formations that quickly killed or harmed what was caught inside it. However, with the spirit beasts being controlled to work more cohesively, the formations were unable to handle the massive influx of spirit beasts. Along with the fact that the flag bearer was able to command the animals to shatter the bases inside the arrays.

* * *

"She wasn't much of a threat as she posed to be..." Song mocked.

"Yes, I also believed that she would be a great threat with the way she acted." Chaun agreed.

"Haven't you noticed that they've gained a lot of 9th stage cultivators?" Chaun brought up.

"Yes, I noticed! Whatever lucky breaks they had will become ours once they're all dead!"

"It is a bit ridiculous though. Three 9th stage Qi Gatherers in one squad. If we don't quickly bolster our own forces, it won't be long before the Wolfeng Gang overtakes us in strength."

"Hmph. We'll kill them before they get any stronger. Just make sure you don't get any funny ideas and think of betraying me." Song threatened.

"We have bigger threats to worry about, don't you agree?" He cleverly avoided responding directly.

"Whatever." Song turned around and made her way back to her side of the wall.

* * *

"I'll be right back Li Li. Don't worry. Mom will save you." Jing whispered to him.

Jing placed Li Li down and looked at the flag carrier with a deadly glare. He didn't even need to make eye contact with her to feel her overbearing killing intent bearing down on him. The spirit beasts were almost finished breaking the rest of her arrays but this didn't matter to Jing in the slightest. She concentrated her qi to cover her entire body and almost instantly arrived in front of the flag cultivator with a single leap from the top of the front wall.

His eyes nearly bulged out of his eye sockets upon sighting her. Jing performed a small spin as she kicked directly towards his stomach with great force. The 8th stage Qi Gatherer used all the qi within him to defend against the seemingly weak but lethal blow. Jing's foot immediately shattered his qi barrier along with the 3 defensive spirit tools he had on him but she failed to injure him.

"You're not any average cultivator with 3 defensive treasures on you. I'll give you a small chance to live if you bow before me and tell me of your origins." Jing coldly spoke.

"Kill her!" He could barely breathe after surviving against that kick. The raw power and unbelievable strength held in those legs almost caused him to soil his trousers.

The other cultivators that were sent to aid in ruining her wall surrounded Jing. Jing didn't move an inch as they closed in on her. Her objective wasn't to deal with these pests. It was to save her son from the suffering he was going through. The cultivators watched as Jing leisurely maneuvered through their combined attacks without a single attack even scratching her figure. She calmly walked to the youth carrying the flag and simply grabbed it out of his hand before stabbing it into herself and refining it on rough, turning it into ash that gently fell from her hand.

The cultivators were at a lost seeing the strange sight. They thought she was about to kill herself but the flag went straight through her and didn't come out of her back! What the hell just happened!? And why did grey dust come out of her hand?!

"Considering how you all tried to stop me from saving my son, I don't plan on leaving a single one of you alive. But don't worry, your passing won't be painless in the slightest." Jing sweetly smiled with the face of an innocent young maiden.

The group of cultivators were still too stunned from the previous sight to properly take in Jing's words. And that was when they entered into an unimaginable circle of hell. Jing's figure was nothing more than a blur to the disciples as she unleashed the combination of her learnings from the Empress of Pain's Tome and the Flower Domination. If one could keep track of Jing's movements it could be described as a destructive dance filled with spins and kicks. The way her attacks accurately pinpointed her opponent's nerves and filled their entire body with severe pain that would only increase with every additional kick on their body. It was a horror show!

The human body was filled with trillions of nerves that all served a specific purpose. The intensity of the pain each nerve hit by Jing was all under her control. She knew every nerve within the human body and exactly how much pain it would cause to a person. Jing made sure to continually ramp up the pain until they couldn't take it anymore. That was when she finished them off.

Their screams, pleading, and crying were fueling her cultivation technique and her own excitement. But she made sure to control herself this time around. Now wasn't the time to thoroughly enjoy such suffering and anguish. Her priority was punishing them for the pain Li Li went through. Jing executed every cultivator except the one who put her son in that state in the first place.

She was currently dragging him behind her with her whip wrapped around his throat. He had his hands on the whip, attempting to pull it off his throat but it was a pointless endeavor. The flag bearer struggled hopelessly to try and bring oxygen into his lungs. Clawing at the whip, kicking the ground, bucking his hips, he tried everything to just get one breath of air down his windpipe.

"It's amusing to see you flopping around like that." Jing laughed. He reminded her of a fish on dry land.

She temporarily loosened the grip around his throat and heard him greedily sucking up the air as if he never knew what breathing was like. Then she tightened it once again after feeling that he got enough in him to not faint for a few more moments. And this continued until she made her way back to the top of the front wall.

'I'll handle the spirit beasts Mom!' Li Li told her through their shared soul link. He was back to normal right after Jing destroyed the flag with SCP-914. He silently took off and summoned several ghostly spirit beasts to aid him in killing the beast tide trying to destroy their side of the wall.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It looks like Li Li has a weakness that wasn't taken care of by Jing's refinement! Just what in the world was that flag? Was it a smart move for Jing to use SCP-914 like that in front of everyone? I guess you'll have to find out by coming to read every Mon, Wed, and Fri!

Next chapter i think we'll be finishing up on the first floor.

But besides that I'm on the chapter where Jing is deciding a name for her group and i can't really think of anything fitting for the mix mash of characters we have in her group. I mean if it comes to, i'll definitely be able to think of something but i want you guys to comment your thoughts. Discuss with each other if your on a platform that can do that and i'll choose from what you guys wrote.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	99. 10th Place?

With the recovery of his mind, Li Li, at the first stage of the Qi Consolidation realm, dealt with the beast swarm with ease. His claws and spectral spirit beasts demolished the creatures. Neither Li Li nor his captured souls could lose stamina. They could fight against an endless number of spirit beasts and still wouldn't get tired even after fighting millions of them. The only possible way Li Li and his small group of ghostly beasts could be stopped was if someone managed to kill or seal Li Li into a formation. Or he ran out of qi and was overwhelmed.

Just like his mother, Li Li also had an unfathomable amount of qi within him. So, him running out of qi wouldn't be too common of a situation unless he faced someone several stages above him just like when Jing faced off against the Wise Monkey that nearly enslaved her. Right now, he was using his large quantity of qi to manifest his stored souls and use several techniques from his martial arts given by his mother.

One of his favorite phantom beasts was the Worm Dragon. It's giant size almost allowed it to match the wall in height. It easily crushed several hundreds of beasts with just one swipe of its tail. The spirit beasts in the wave were helpless against its size. Even those at a higher stage than it couldn't resist against the natural laws of the world and survive that massive body from flattening them. Li Li also liked how worm dragons had very tasty hearts.

While most of the work was done by the worm dragon, Li Li himself was definitely second in killing the most amount of spirit beasts. Thanks to Mr. Owls full set of martial art techniques, he had no trouble taking out any of the animals with his skills. His combat art, body art, and movement art were all from Mr. Owl's fantastic teachings. Mr. Owl was a highly acclaimed Great Horned Owl from the Messepic Sector.

Neither Jing nor Li Li knew where this Messepic Sector was located or what it even was but that didn't stop them from reading Mr. Owl's self-defense techniques and realizing just how absurdly powerful they were. Li Li saw his mother pull the book out from her body but she did that often so it wasn't surprising for him at all. She placed many things into her body and pulled many things out of it. He still didn't know how she did it because he couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried. The only thing he could do was take souls in and bring them out differently. It wasn't the same as his mom's though.

Li Li thought that because he was her son, he could do everything his mother could do. Every time he saw her doing something. He tried to replicate it to. Wielding a whip and using it during battle, making and using talismans to fight with or create formations, and even making his own group of followers just like his mother was. But his followers weren't as good as his mom's.

They were only filled with the souls of the spirit beast he's stored with his auxiliary martial art, Ghost King's Chilling Breath. None of the dead creatures could talk or express any emotions at all, they didn't have cool weapons of their own, and without Li Li actively using his breathing art to bring them into the physical world, they were stuck around his soul palace inside his body. He still liked the phantom spirit beasts but it wasn't the same as his mom's group. Li Li planned to find other beasts like himself to create a group with and plans to call them the Great Fiends!

"Are you okay Li Li?" Jing asked him.

She just returned to the top of the wall with the flag bearer from before hanging over the edge with her whip still wrapped around his throat. He's long since given up on resisting and wished for death to take him into its sweet embrace. But Jing couldn't allow such a peaceful death for someone who put her son in one of the worst experiences he's ever gone through. That time when he broke his leg in the cave was probably the worst.

'I'm fine now, Mom. I kept hearing a voice in my head telling me to destroy the wall and had to fight with everything I had so that I didn't follow it. It was only because of my auxiliary art that I could resist at all.' He told her.

"That's good..." She rubbed his head. "Don't worry, I took care of that spirit tool for you. Is there anything you want to do to him for making you go through that awful pain?" Jing asked him in a motherly tone.

Jing pulled the flag cultivator from over the edge to in front of Li Li. She removed her whip from around his throat and hooked it onto her waist. The 8th stage Qi Gatherer didn't care that he could breathe once more. After what he's experienced, he was only looking forward to the suffering finally ending.

Li Li stood on top of the man's chest. He was still very small in size so, he didn't put much pressure on the man's ribs. He stared at him with an undefinable expression on his face. The two locked eyes and a certain emotion could be conveyed between the two of them.

'You don't want to live anymore, right?' Li Li connected their souls.

The man's eyes widened with shock. It was as if he was brought back to live from the edge of death once he heard the beast's voice inside his head.

"What?! You can speak?!" He tried to cry out.

Jing grabbed his tongue mid-sentence and glared at him to keep his mouth shut. She didn't understand why Li Li was talking to the man but it was better if less people knew of his ability to speak through soul links. Jing hasn't had any time to research anything about souls nor did she know what the standard cultivator thought about spirit beasts speaking human language. Another objective to add to her long list of tasks after the Treasured Plains.

'Death would be better than this torture...' He responded.

'Hmm. Unlike my mom, I actually don't like to cause people pain. It seems unnecessary to me. I hate what you did to me but I think my mom put you through enough. I'll send you off without any pain.' Li Li told him.

'Thank you...' Tears fell from his eyes.

Li Li concentrated most of his qi within his middle talon and gently tapped against the skull of the disciple. A powerful tiny beam of concentrated energy passed through the front of his skull to the back and fizzled out before it could pierce through the top of the wall to the bottom. Li Li just remembered that protecting the wall was one of the things his mom wanted him to do. If he didn't hold back with his martial technique, the inside of the wall would have a clean hole straight through it right now.

"Well, I would've done something a little worse but as long as you're satisfied." Jing petted him just as the floor was finally cleared.

Some people looked up into the skies to see the scores which led to those who had no experience with the Great Tower copy their actions. The top 10 participants were especially interesting to Jing. She barely made it on to the top 10 at all, she was in 10th place. All of the names above her weren't unfamiliar.

In first place was Gong Jun with second place being Tang Wuying with only 1 kill behind him. Third and fourth place was Song and Chaun respectively. Fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth were all claimed by the Wolfeng Gang. Wenling in fifth, Ears in sixth, Du Lin in seventh, Zihao in eighth, and Scars in ninth. Her score wasn't very surprising as she herself didn't personally kill any beasts. Her formations did all the work and even then, all of them were destroyed in the end and didn't even kill a quarter of the beasts in the beast wave.

Jing was very surprised that Li Li wasn't anywhere on the scoreboard. Seeing him massacre all those spirit beasts must have netted him somewhere near the top 10. It would be crazy if he wasn't. But it turns out it really was crazy, as Li Li was nowhere to be seen. Jing guessed that because he was a spirit beast, he must not count as a tower participant or something. How unfair to her son. He deserves rewards for participating in the tower too. Jing will just reward him with something similar to what Gong and Tang got for getting first and second place. She felt that he was certainly close to their score.

"Jing! We need plenty of healing talismans! And some qi recovery talismans! And maybe some other stuff too!" Wenling called out to her from the bottom of the wall.

Behind her were most of the Wolfeng Gang covered in injuries that ranged from minor scratches and bruises to deep lacerations in the skin, broken bones, and torn limbs.

"I'm surprised you all managed to survive with this many people left. Very well, I'll be down in a moment." Jing responded at a normal volume but somehow still managing to have her words enter the ears of every surviving Wolfeng Gang member below.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Friday will be the release of the 100 chapter special. Since most of you who commented liked my suggestion of triple the chapter length for the 100th chapter, i did exactly that. Maybe for chapter 150 or 200 I'll do a non-canon chapter of where I don't hold back on Jing at all with her system and potential. The focus being solely on Jing, her true personality, and the true power of the SCP Gacha System.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


	100. The 5th Floor

"So, what's our plan here Commander?" Zihao asked with his lightning sword hanging on his back.

"We lost a lot of people on our way to the 5th floor... If we aren't careful, we could be taken out here." Scars spoke solemnly as his monster lotus hungrily eyed one of the wounded Wolfeng Gang members.

"Fucking bastards... They really aren't holding anything back. They really plan to eliminate us before the Treasured Plains are over." Ears cursed.

"Next time I see a disciple from the Fearsome Garden or Huan clan, I'm gonna rip my sword through their guts!"

"Alright boys, calm down. Getting worked up over this won't help us at all." Wenling said, clearly just as stressed and upset as her men.

The Wolfeng Gang has just arrived on the 5th floor of the Great Tower and read the objective needed to clear this floor. Jing's reaction to the objective was quite different from the Wolfeng Gang and she was slightly surprised by this. She thought they would immediately be able to see this situation in a positive light as its perfect for bandits like them. But if their first thought was of survival instead of banditry, maybe she was affected by them a little more than she thought.

The 5th floor was home to three powerful spirit beast tribes. The Green Bloods, Red Bloods, and the Blue Bloods. These three tribes were all currently engaged in an all-out war that encompassed the entire floor. Their goal was to survive until only one beast tribe was left. When reading this, Jing immediately thought of taking advantage of the war to get as many valuables as she can. The reaction of the Wolfeng Gang was to find out how to survive long enough to get to the next floor.

It seems the many losses of their comrades weighed heavily on their minds. This wouldn't be convenient for Jing if she planned on using this chaotic battle to gain treasures. Luckily for them, she was not in desperate need for anymore magical treasures or resources in general. She probably had enough resources to start a large sect of her own by now. So, Jing went along with their little plan of surviving till the end of the war.

She could've prevented all the deaths of those that died on their way to the 5th floor. It was completely in her power to do so but she refused. The Wolfeng Gang didn't know she had the power to save everyone that died but it wouldn't matter if they did in the first place. Everyone except Wenling would agree with whatever she said or did thanks to the lotuses. Jing wasn't sure if she should infect Wenling with the lotus. Having another 100% loyal follower would be good but she didn't feel satisfied with this type of method.

If she used the parasitic lotus to latch onto Wenling, what's stopping her from doing it to the rest of her followers and just leading a group of mind-controlled followers that would listen to her every command? It would be like leading a group of puppets instead of actual humans with their own thoughts and feelings. Kind of like playing with dolls and having them move to your whim and narrate their thoughts for them.

Jing didn't feel that this was wrong in the sense that she would feel bad for doing so. She felt that it was wrong because it wouldn't be gratifying to her inner self. It would be cheating in simpler terms. Her current goal lied in taking over the sect and reforming it into her ideal form of what a sect should be. Wouldn't it be pointless if all of those under her when she becomes Sect Leader are nothing more than mindless pawns only used to fulfil her desires? It would all be so empty that Jing couldn't really call that succeeding in her goal.

Jing decided to not use any mind-altering methods on her main followers. She would gain their full loyalty and hearts through her own leadership capabilities. It wouldn't be worth doing it any other way. At least in her opinion, it wouldn't be.

"Jing. Can you have Li Li scout our surroundings for us?" Wenling asked.

"Ask him yourself." She replied, even though she already knew the answer.

"Pretty please Li Li?" Wenling clapped her hands together and asked cutely.

Li Li turned his head.

"Please please please please." She begged even more.

He opened his left eye and stared at her.

"I got a nice juicy beast core for you if you do it for us." Scars bargained as he reached from his pocket and took out a shiny red solid sphere.

This completely captured the owlet's attention. He nodded as he took the beast core in blinding speed before taking off into the sky.

"Did you teach him that?" Wenling asked slightly peeved she couldn't use her charms on Li Li.

"He's smart. He knows how to spot a good deal." Jing replied.

"I wish he would open up to me more..." She whined as she hugged Jing from behind.

"Give it time. He isn't used to making friends." Jing said, she herself doesn't have any friends either.

"A shy one huh? You know, you used to be cuter when you were shy too."

"So, I'm not cute anymore is what you're saying right?"

"No! I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was you're so different now and I feel crazy because I'm the only one who seems to notice it." She couldn't explain herself in a way that made sense.

"So, I'm not cute. I got it." Jing released herself from Wenling's grip and walked faster on ahead.

"Jing! Wait! I just meant that you were especially cute before and now you are only cute cute! Does that make sense?!"

"No. It doesn't." Jing teased while faking an upset face. She really didn't care about being cute or whatnot. It was just amusing to see Wenling's desperation.

"Uhh! How do I explain this in a way that doesn't upset you?!"

"You've already explained it. No need to explain it again."

The rest of the Wolfeng Gang watched this scene with amusement. It wasn't often that the Commander acted so freely and honest with herself before Jing joined. Even Ears only saw this part of the Commander's personality when around the other commanders and the leader. Ears wasn't ashamed to say that he was insanely jealous of Jing's closeness with Wenling but seeing the faces of these bastards behind him, he was starting to think he wasn't the only one. They were happy that their Commander could feel at ease with Jing around. They believed that since Jing was a girl, it was easier for her to open up to her instead of a bunch of guys like them. There were some barriers that could not be easily crossed between the sexes.

Wenling engulfed Jing in a big hug and was repeating the word sorry over and over again when Li Li returned from his scouting. Wenling refused to let go unless Jing forgave her. Li Li didn't like this sight and as he returned he swooped down and kicked Wenling in the forehead with his foot, releasing her hold from his mother. Wenling whined from Li Li's uncalled for abuse and this sight made Jing laugh.

"I guess seeing that sorry sight of yours is enough. I forgive you." Jing told her. Not that she ever was upset with her in the first place.

Wenling bounced up from the ground and captured both Jing and Li Li in a joyous hug. All three of their faces rubbed together as Wenling continually forced the physical interaction. Li Li tried to pull out and kick Wenling away again but she was prepared this time. Li Li would have to hurt Jing if he wanted to push her away. The young bandit commander smirked in her victory as she rubbed her face even harder against the mother and son duo.

"Up ahead there is a mountain surrounded with a dense amount of qi. To the west, there is a small army of Green Bloods traveling this way. In the east, Li Li spotted a large lake without any spirit beasts inside. Behind us, we have the Fearsome Garden and Huan clan tracking our trail. It looks like they have a spirit tool that can track us somehow." Jing relayed as her face was still being rubbed against Wenling's. Her face and voice was completely stoic despite being in the embrace with Wenling and Li Li.

"We need to get a move on then. I would've suggested we head to the lake first to fill up on water but if they are right behind us, we need to get to the mountain. There's no point in angering the Green Bloods just as we got on the floor either." Ears said.

"We can still head to the lake Vice Commander." Zian spoke up.

"Did you not just hear me?"

"I heard you. But I was thinking, since we know that they are following us from behind. We could set up a trap for them with Jing's formations." He shared.

"We could also go and stock up on water from the lake! We head to the lake first, stock up, and then we could head to the mountain and set the ambush there or make it at the lake." Scars added.

"Hmm... That isn't a bad idea coming from you bastards... Commander, what do you think?" Ears asked, she was still hugging Jing and Li Li.

"It would be a good plan if we had more of our members but as we stand now, we are outnumbered. Even with the four of us at the 9th stage, we still wouldn't be able to defeat both of their forces together. They came very prepared and would easily be able to escape with their lives."

"How could they escape from one of Jing's formation though?" Du Lin asked.

"It would cost them a valuable spirit tool but it would be possible. Plus, I don't doubt that they have a spirit tool that could sense arrays. They could see our trap from a mile away with a tool like that. The safest option would be to stock up on water, place traps behind us to delay them, and focus on making it to the mountain." Wenling relayed to her men.

"Why are we headed to the mountain again?" Zihao asked.

"Didn't you hear Jing? That mountain is definitely filled with valuable loot if it is surrounded in dense qi." Ears explained.

"I really don't think we can carry anymore loot Vice Commander..." Scars brought up.

"Well it's going up your ass if you can't find anywhere to carry it."

"Vice Commander please..." Scars begged for mercy.

The rest of the gang laughed as they made their way to the lake.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Huge jump in time here. I chose to do this as i believed we've been stuck inside these Plains for enough time. upon finishing this arc, i feel like that i accomplished everything i set out to do for this arc. The next few chapters will be building up to the finale of the Treasured Plains arc. then we're back in the sect.

This chapter was just a basic slice of life type. Nothing too important to talk about. See you guys Friday on the 100th chapter special!

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.


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